IRFU Annual Report 2011/2012

totallegend

Thought it might be worth a thread separate from Ireland team talk.

Latest annual report is here: http://www.irishrugby.ie/downloads/IRFU_Annual_Report-2011-2012v2.pdf

Some interesting tidbits in it, notably what I think is the first mention of "Plan Ireland", "a plan for the professional game with even stronger alignment between the provinces and the IRFU to ensure the continued success of the provincial teams and greater success for the Irish National Team." (page 11). This would be a great idea for all concerned; a sharing of coaching expertise, player conditioning routines and so on would be mutually beneficial; it will be interesting to see if anything comes of it, or whether the IRFU controlling provincial signings will be the extent of 'Plan Ireland'.

Disappointing to see that Philip Browne attributes our failure in the RWC quarter-final to those dastardly foreigners. Either tackle the issue properly or don't mention it at all, but don't rewrite history to support your other policies.

Philip Browne wrote:

the lack of real strength and depth in certain positions continues to be a cause for concern which if not addressed will continue to hamper progress in terms of success in this tournament.

Just reading down through it, it's odd that Kidney is never really mentioned...

armchaircoach

Its a particularly anemic document that either tries to spread blame thinly and over everyone, or just pull out its false flag defense of evil foreigners sabotaging the team

"in some ways as this success does not seem to transfer as readily
to the Irish National Team and the international stage. There is no
simple answer as to why this might be as there are many elements
that contribute to success including player succession planning, our
high performance systems and structures, coaching, competition
structures, training facilities, medical systems and more"

I hadn't realised that our medical staff and training facilities were so far behind the other nations that they were causing us to play so badly, or that the other teams in the 6 nations apparently get to play it under a different competition structure that benefits them greatly, to our detriment. As for the rest of the excuses, they fall pretty firmly under the remit of "He who is not named" in the report, but any failings on his behalf are not mentioned.

Its all ok though, as apparently we had our best world cup ever (having lost to Wales by way of lack of intensity, not gameplan!!!!) and we also managed to come 3rd in the 6 nations

I worry that some of them might actually believe the ****e that they can come out with.

thomond2006

Shure if ye can't find a reason, just blame the feckin' foreigners! :rolleyes:

The lack of appreciation for the joy that the likes of Nacewa, Howlett and Pienaar have given Irish Rugby supporters is disgraceful. They sanction their arrivals and then blame them for our cack national team? Jebus Christos...