THE IRFU IS considering entering the four provincial A teams into a new competition with three South African sides next season.
The42 understands that the union is weighing up whether to enter Ulster A, Munster A, Connacht A, and Leinster A into a new tournament in which they would face the Cheetahs, Pumas, and Griquas of South Africa.
The Cheetahs were previously part of the Pro14 but lost out on a place in the expanded URC as SA Rugby instead brought the Stormers, Bulls, Sharks, and Lions into the competition.
Based in Bloemfontein, the Cheetahs have been searching for new competitions since 2020 and it was recently confirmed that they will be part of the EPCR Challenge Cup in Europe next season.
The Pumas and Griquas are two of the smallest unions in South African rugby but they recently contested the final of the prestigious Currie Cup, which is a major honour in domestic South African rugby.
The Pumas, who are based in Mbombela, won that final 26-19 away to the Griquas in Kimberley three weekends ago.
These three South African teams could now be set for a new competition against Ireland’s A teams.
The Irish A sides previously played in the British and Irish Cup and then the Celtic Cup, but have been without international competition since the pandemic first hit in 2020.
With fewer URC games now than was the case with the Pro14, it’s understood that the IRFU is keen for young Irish players to get more exposure to high-level competition when they are not selected for URC or Champions Cup teams.
The All-Ireland League [AIL] enjoyed a resurgence last season, with plenty of involvement for academy players from the provinces, and many in Irish rugby would like to see the domestic competition supported even more.
It’s unclear exactly how the proposed new competition with the South African teams might clash with the AIL’s match weekends.
It’s thought that the provincial A teams would still play against each other in Ireland before travelling to South Africa to take on the Cheetahs, Pumas, and Griquas under the current proposal.
Dates and the possible competition format are still being discussed by the IRFU and SA Rugby, but there is hope on both side that plans can be finalised ahead of the 2022/23 season.
Lol! the AIL must be like, ‘here we go again!’… Spend more than you’d make shipping them all around while compromising the grassroots which is where really they should be investing. Whatever tho, same old lack of ideas.
@thesaltyurchin: personally I like the aligning of both countries in Rugby… Not sure how this impacts Irish rugby at grass roots negatively. Sure long travel and costs for the A sides but exposure to different styles and challenges can only be a good thing unless I’m missing something here..let’s take it a step further and see grey college vs Blackrock or the sorts.. Ha .
@Stuart Collins: If the A sides go touring for 3 weeks to SA then they’re not realistically going to be available to their province for that period. In the event of an injury they’ll be stuck in SA, which will put the provinces off.
Why bother having reserves if you can’t use them. At least the British & Irish League made sense from this perspective.
@Joseph Blocks: could tour durning the 6 nations?
@Kingshu: or November as you’d hope a cpl of under 20s would be involved too
@Joseph Blocks: I would assume the games would be during the international window periods when the provinces first teams are not scheduled to play.
With a bit of planning they could probably avoid clashing with AIL weekends also. As “A” team players will likely get less first opportunities under the new schedule it’s important that they get more A games against appropriate opposition.
If they are playing in AIL games many of those they are playing against will be of a lower level which won’t really prepare them for URC games.
@Stuart Collins: I do too, but the IRFU needs to sort it out here first without turning fans away. I don’t know enough about the structure in SA tbh, ye have uni then franchise? In Ireland we have school/club then club level that (in certain parts of the country, amounts to most of the support and interest in the game). then province. Uni’s here compete in the club comp. Even the way its currently structured here has zero thought behind it.
@thesaltyurchin: in sa its schools to uni to provinces.. Schools complete in what’s called craven week for the best sides. Uni compete in the varsity Cup… Guys normally move into provincial rugby from uni if good enough.. .. Its like Friday night lights on big game days in big rugby schools and universities there… Entire schools stay back to support sides with chearleaders ect..
@Stuart Collins: that’s a really interesting point…top schools rugby teams link here: https://nextgenxv.com/global-top-20/
This was in the pipeworks for a long time, thought Cheetahs would be involved and prob Pumas and Griquas since the SA union gave them franchise status in 2017. With the URC having less games, and none durning international windows, it was seen that promising young players would get far less opportunity than the Pro14/BandI cup days, and a stronger ‘A’ comp was needed to give them competative experience. I’d have thought the Welsh Scottish and Italians would have been involved as well, as they face the same issues. Possibly some of the better Rugby Europe Super Cup teams as well.
This season has shown the benefit of the SA teams in URC, the Irish teams no longer have a cake walk. Will only bring young players along to have serious competition.
@Shane Obrien: let’s be honest, leinster had a blip in that final round in the urc.. They are still the strongest and team to beat without a doubt … They are phenominal… Looking forward to next year’s urc…. Plenty to look forward to without a doubt….
Personally i would like to see some type of under 23s competion to help fill the void for younger players to develop – bit like in france
Might be something that could appeal to some premiership teams ? ( im gonna ask one of the onwers )
I think a streamlined competion of c 8 games could work without affecting too much the top AIL teams too much
Clearly some intelligent planning would be required …