Congress to Consider Rugby World Cup Role

[IolarCoisCuain]

GAA congress to consider RWC role

SEÁN MORAN

Sat, Aug 18, 2012

The GAA will consider making available six grounds to facilitate Ireland's rugby world cup (RWC) bid. Today's Central Council meeting viewed a presentation proposing that a motion go to next year's annual congress to amend Rule 5.1, governing the use of association property in order to allow venues to be used for the tournament in 2023 or 2027.

If the motion passes the IRFU, who floated the proposal earlier this year, can proceed with formulating a bid by the deadline of this time next year. This would also be contingent on substantial government funding.

Croke Park would be needed for the final, as a venue with a capacity of at least 60,000 is required whereas a number of other provincial venues would also be required in order for the IRFU to propose sufficient locations to sustain their bid.

The grounds suggested at today's meeting include four Munster venues: Semple Stadium in Thurles, the Gaelic Grounds in Limerick, Fitzgerald Stadium in Killarney and Cork's Páirc Uí Chaoimh, which is due to be refurbished. The other two are Pearse Stadium in Galway City and Casement Park in Belfast, which is also due to be redeveloped.

During the rebuilding of Lansdowne Road between 2007 and 2010, Croke Park was made available for rugby and soccer internationals but that dispensation applied only to the headquarters venue and not any of the GAA's other venues.

A statement from the IRFU this afternoon, said: "The IRFU fully understands and respects this process and looks forward to the GAA's response in due course, while also acknowledging that any bid would be heavily dependent on support from the Government and the GAA.

The number of stadia that would be required for the tournament has not yet been decided, but a key element will be to establish the number of locations and venues available before a feasibility study is undertaken to determine Ireland's overall capacity to host the tournament."

IRFU chief executive Philip Browne added: "The Rugby World Cup in New Zealand showed what a country of four million people could achieve in terms of attracting visitors and showcasing the potential of a country, so an overall Ireland bid is something that the government was keen to discuss with us.

"I think everybody is aware of the benefits from both a social and economic perspective that would come from hosting the third largest sporting event on the globe. We are at the early stages of examining the feasibility of a bid and part of this study is to determine the interest and support of Government and other relevant bodies."
...

© 2012 The Irish Times



Thoughts on this? Seems a rock and a hard place to me. The GAA can't be seen to oppose to such a move, but if the GAA supports rugby in this way it will sign its own death warrant. An amateur body can't hope to compete with a international professional sport like modern rugby. The best thing the GAA had going for it was its nationalist identity. That's still strong in the Six Counties but down here in Mexico it seems to mean less and less by the day.

[Donnellys Hollow]

The GAA has absolutely nothing to fear from rugby. If they could get a handful of grounds renovated off the back of this then it would be well worth investigating at least.

[Denn Forever]

Landsdowne Road, Thomond Park and Ravinhill are there already.  How many pitches would be needed?  Are any soccer pitches suitable?

If GAA pitches are used, don't think it will sign it's Death Warrant.

[fitzroyalty]

GAA is the number one sporting organisation here and no amount of RWCs will ever change that.

HQ should be all over this, some amount of € to rake in. Think the Athletic Grounds in Armagh should be considered as well as Casement and Ravenhill for venues in Ulster.

[trileacman]

Landsdowne Road, Thomond Park and Ravinhill are there already.  How many pitches would be needed?  Are any soccer pitches suitable?

If GAA pitches are used, don't think it will sign it's Death Warrant.

Don't think a lick of paint round the brandywell or turners cross will be enough to be honest. I'd say you'd need in excess of 12 or around that figure, from what I remember though the french allowed Cardiff to host a match so we could lease out matches to our Celtic cousins.

I'd imagine Galway or the West would need to have a major stadium done up to accommodate the ould provincial strategy.

[IolarCoisCuain]

GAA is the number one sporting organisation here and no amount of RWCs will ever change that.

The GAA has absolutely nothing to fear from rugby. If they could get a handful of grounds renovated off the back of this then it would be well worth investigating at least.

Why do you think that fellas? A friend of mine is quite involved with a club in Galway and he tells me the inroads rugby is making are phenomenal. Supporting Connacht in the Heineken Cup is a chic thing to do in the city and, when he's doing under-age coaching, he notices that all the parents love rugby. Daddy loves it because it's so well organized, and Mammy loves it for the status it brings.

Rugby has access to money that the GAA can't dream of because it's an international sport, supported by blue-chip companies. Why would a young lad stick with the GAA instead of rugby in the face of all that glamour? The only reason I can think of is nationalism, and that is not the force it once was. Not even kinda.

[5 Sams]

Happy days...go for it. The All Blacks in Casement!! Bring it on

[Donnellys Hollow]

GAA is the number one sporting organisation here and no amount of RWCs will ever change that.

HQ should be all over this, some amount of € to rake in. Think the Athletic Grounds in Armagh should be considered as well as Casement and Ravenhill for venues in Ulster.

The GAA has absolutely nothing to fear from rugby. If they could get a handful of grounds renovated off the back of this then it would be well worth investigating at least.

Why do you think that fellas? A friend of mine is quite involved with a club in Galway and he tells me the inroads rugby is making are phenomenal. Supporting Connacht in the Heineken Cup is a chic thing to do in the city and, when he's doing under-age coaching, he notices that all the parents love rugby. Daddy loves it because it's so well organized, and Mammy loves it for the status it brings.

Rugby has access to money that the GAA can't dream of because it's an international sport, supported by blue-chip companies. Why would a young lad stick with the GAA instead of rugby in the face of all that glamour? The only reason I can think of is nationalism, and that is not the force it once was. Not even kinda.

Provincial rugby is going strong but at the expense of the club game in Ireland which is dying a death. It also remains to be seen whether the recent success of the provinces can be sustained in the long run. The English and French clubs have threatened to pull out of the Heineken due to the advantages that the Celtic teams have over them. That would be a disaster for Irish rugby.

I see plenty of lads locally who have all of a sudden become big Leinster rugby fans in recent years. They have all the gear and go to a lot of the matches. These lads wouldn't know where the pitches of rugby clubs like Barnhall, North Kildare, Clane, Naas and Cill Dara are, never mind darken the door of the clubhouse itself. I'd accept that there are a lot of GAA followers in a similar situation but to nowhere near the same extent.

There are less rugby clubs in Ireland than there are GAA clubs in the entire county of Cork. Rugby has become quite popular but it will never be a threat to the GAA. There was a young lad from Maynooth on the Kildare minor team this year who gave up the chance to play on a Leinster underage squad preferring to stick with football. Migration and emigration are much bigger threats to losing much of a generation of young players.

[Crete Boom]

GAA is the number one sporting organisation here and no amount of RWCs will ever change that.

The GAA has absolutely nothing to fear from rugby. If they could get a handful of grounds renovated off the back of this then it would be well worth investigating at least.

Why do you think that fellas? A friend of mine is quite involved with a club in Galway and he tells me the inroads rugby is making are phenomenal. Supporting Connacht in the Heineken Cup is a chic thing to do in the city and, when he's doing under-age coaching, he notices that all the parents love rugby. Daddy loves it because it's so well organized, and Mammy loves it for the status it brings.

Rugby has access to money that the GAA can't dream of because it's an international sport, supported by blue-chip companies. Why would a young lad stick with the GAA instead of rugby in the face of all that glamour? The only reason I can think of is nationalism, and that is not the force it once was. Not even kinda.

GAA in Connacht has nothing to worry about. If Rugby was making the serious inroads people are saying it would be only catching up with the particapation rates in the other provinces. The Gaa is well established through out Connacht and I think young people should play as many sports as possible then if they are serious and good enough at a sport they'll be well able to pick which one to concentrate when the time arises. If rugby has such an advantage over the GAA in Connacht , how come Joe Canning is still pucking bal for the Galway Hurlers and Kevin Keane , Pat Harte are playing for Mayo and James Gill is still playing football out in San Fran? The IRFU have to pay all there players , coaches , Refs etc and they have all but killed the club game which outside of Leinster all the provinces have relied heavy on clubs to produce and nurture players.
If Connacht Gaa can't compete with this then it's truly doomed

[MaigheoAbu]

Totally agree with you Crete!In Connacht especially,I don't think we have anything to worry about when it concerns Rugby!We have so many fantastic Gaa clubs throughout Connacht both at Junior,minor and intermediate level!For young kids/teens to participate in different sports is very important and if they are very good at Gaa/Rugby at a young age,they could pursue it at a later stage!In Ballina we a re lucky to have both Pat harte/David Clarke still playing for the Stephenites and Mayo!

[trileacman]

GAA is the number one sporting organisation here and no amount of RWCs will ever change that.

HQ should be all over this, some amount of € to rake in. Think the Athletic Grounds in Armagh should be considered as well as Casement and Ravenhill for venues in Ulster.

The GAA has absolutely nothing to fear from rugby. If they could get a handful of grounds renovated off the back of this then it would be well worth investigating at least.

Why do you think that fellas? A friend of mine is quite involved with a club in Galway and he tells me the inroads rugby is making are phenomenal. Supporting Connacht in the Heineken Cup is a chic thing to do in the city and, when he's doing under-age coaching, he notices that all the parents love rugby. Daddy loves it because it's so well organized, and Mammy loves it for the status it brings.

Rugby has access to money that the GAA can't dream of because it's an international sport, supported by blue-chip companies. Why would a young lad stick with the GAA instead of rugby in the face of all that glamour? The only reason I can think of is nationalism, and that is not the force it once was. Not even kinda.

Provincial rugby is going strong but at the expense of the club game in Ireland which is dying a death. It also remains to be seen whether the recent success of the provinces can be sustained in the long run. The English and French clubs have threatened to pull out of the Heineken due to the advantages that the Celtic teams have over them. That would be a disaster for Irish rugby.

Which are? I thought it was just, "we want a few bob more."

[neilthemac]

The reason Connacht are making such inroads is due to the lack of GAA clubs within the city itself

I agree. The GAA should go for it.

The money could be used to make inroads into soccer dominated neighbourhoods

[Donnellys Hollow]

GAA is the number one sporting organisation here and no amount of RWCs will ever change that.

HQ should be all over this, some amount of € to rake in. Think the Athletic Grounds in Armagh should be considered as well as Casement and Ravenhill for venues in Ulster.

The GAA has absolutely nothing to fear from rugby. If they could get a handful of grounds renovated off the back of this then it would be well worth investigating at least.

Why do you think that fellas? A friend of mine is quite involved with a club in Galway and he tells me the inroads rugby is making are phenomenal. Supporting Connacht in the Heineken Cup is a chic thing to do in the city and, when he's doing under-age coaching, he notices that all the parents love rugby. Daddy loves it because it's so well organized, and Mammy loves it for the status it brings.

Rugby has access to money that the GAA can't dream of because it's an international sport, supported by blue-chip companies. Why would a young lad stick with the GAA instead of rugby in the face of all that glamour? The only reason I can think of is nationalism, and that is not the force it once was. Not even kinda.

Provincial rugby is going strong but at the expense of the club game in Ireland which is dying a death. It also remains to be seen whether the recent success of the provinces can be sustained in the long run. The English and French clubs have threatened to pull out of the Heineken due to the advantages that the Celtic teams have over them. That would be a disaster for Irish rugby.

Which are? I thought it was just, "we want a few bob more."

Many of the Celtic teams can rest players during the league because they are effectively guaranteed entry into the Heineken regardless of their finishing position.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/club/9298558/English-Premiership-clubs-open-rift-with-Celtic-nations-over-Heineken-Cup-qualification.html

Unlikely to happen but you never know. Then English clubs didn't compete the year Ulster won it.

[here comes 6]

Pass this ASAP

[Rossfan]

Why do the Rubbyites need 12 effin stadia for a so called "World " Cup with about 8 real competitors plus maybe 8 more makey up teams ?
Just how many people do they expect to go to Tonga v Georgia? Could be held in any Rugby Club ground.
I will NOT be voting for this if I'm a delegate to any Board , Council or Committee as it's not the GAA's job to promote bloody rubby?.