Limerick clubs hit hard by recession
Willie Staunton, Young Munster RFC. Young Munster have lost a number of players to emigration but are still third in the AIL Division 1A
In his weekly AIL blog, Colm Kinsella argues that the recession has affected Munster’s clubs more so than their Dublin counterparts
THE shadow of the current economic recession appears to be hanging over several clubs in the Ulster Bank All-Ireland League who are struggling to retain some of their best known players.
A number of Limerick clubs have lost high profile players to emigration in recent weeks in what is becoming a worrying trend.
The majority of these players are not taking the decision to head to Australia, the USA of the UK as a lifestyle choice, but rather out of economic necessity. They simply find themselves out of work and are moving abroad to further their careers outside of rugby.
Some of the best and brightest young local rugby talent has also moved to Dublin in a bid to find work and they are throwing in their lot with rugby clubs based in the capital.
The Division 1A table at present would appear to indicate that the Dublin clubs have not been as badly hit when it comes to players emigrating as those in the remainder of the country. That’s a point that Shannon player-coach Stephen Keogh has spoken about already this season and he’s someone speaking from experience. He played with Lansdowne up until last season but this time around he has seen his Shannon squad lose a number of good performers. Long-serving full-back David O’Donovan has departed for Australia while Gareth Quinn-McDonogh has left for England. Young Munster are in a similar situation. Alan Kinglsey left for Australia at the end of last season, Shane Hassett left this week and Matthew Costello is gone to the USA.
Three of the top four clubs in the top flight are Dublin-based. The only side to break the Dublin stranglehold on the top of the table is Young Munster who lie third.
The four remaining Munster-based clubs in 1A occupy places five to eight in the table.
The worry for Limerick-based clubs is that current indications are that the situation will get worse before it gets better
Table positions would appear to indicate that the Munster sides don’t have the same level of strength in depth in their squads as their Leinster rivals.
The Munster clubs are still very competitive, but losing a couple of players to emigration can make the difference between winning a tight contest and losing it. Three of Garryowen’s four defeats have been by seven points or less.
In Division 1B, the top of the table has a distinctly Ulster flavour with four of the leading five sides based in the province.
In Division 2A, the top eight places are all occupied by teams from either Leinster or Ulster.
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