Clubs in England have been frustrated in attempts to develop their grounds as all but two in the top division trade in the red
London Irish this week announced an annual loss of a few grand over £1m: considerably better than the previous year's loss of more than £2m but an illustration of the tough trading climate for professional clubs.
Irish are among six Premiership clubs who did not survive the group stage of the Heineken Cup. They do not own their own ground, playing their matches at the home of Reading Football Club, and two months ago had plans for a new training ground in Sunbury rejected by the secretary of state for communities and local government. The decision followed an 11-day public inquiry after the local authority had refused planning permission.
Ulster are among three Irish provinces who made it to the last eight of the Heineken Cup. This week they announced that Northern Ireland's environment minister, Alex Attwood, had granted planning permission for redevelopment work at Ravenhill. Ten months ago, the Northern Ireland executive announced that Ulster Rugby would be given a £14.7m grant to complete the project which will raise the capacity at the ground from 12,000 to 18,200.
Ulster pointed out, in thanking various government departments, that the development would not only boost rugby but would have benefits for health, tourism and the local economy. Work is expected to start before the end of the year.
Saracens are the one Premiership club in the quarter-finals of the Heineken Cup. They will play Clermont Auvergne at Vicarage Road in April, the home they had hoped to have vacated by now after identifying Copthall Stadium in Barnet as the site for their new home. The borough's planning officers this week approved the scheme, but the full council will make the decision.
Saracens had to change their plans to take into account factors such as green belt policy and transportation links. Sarries aim to play 16 matches a year on a synthetic surface and the facility will be available to the local community for the rest of the time and made free to schools. The work will cost the club £16m and, said the chairman, Nigel Wray, the aim is to make Copthall a community asset.
Wasps, twice Heineken Cup winners, are up for sale after the club's owner, Steve Hayes, despaired of getting the club out of its cycle of debt when his plans for a sports village in Wycombe, including a 17,500 all-seat stadium, were rejected by the local authority last October.
Northampton, Heineken Cup winners in 2000, want to complete the development work at Franklin's Gardens and take the capacity there to more than 15,000. The club wants to pay for the work through retail development, including the building of a supermarket on the site: the alternative is to take out a loan. A change in power at the local authority should see planning permission granted.
Munster, Heineken Cup winners in 2006 and 2008 and the top seeds this year, finished the redevelopment of Thomond Park in 2008 at a coast of some €40m (£33.5m), with help from the Irish Rugby Football Union. Another €20m is being spent on improving Musgrave Park in Cork aimed at more than tripling the capacity.
Leinster are the Heineken Cup holders and a few days after winning the tournament last year, they announced they were forging a high-performance partnership with University College, Dublin, moving their training and conditioning units to a campus at the university. The joint venture, noted the Irish Rugby Football Union in its last annual report, was to be funded by a generous benefactor.
The IRFU said in its report: "Discussions continue [for Leinster] with the RDS in relation to the possible redevelopment of the RDS Arena which would increase the capacity of the present facility and which would provide better spectator accommodation and facilities in place of the current main stand. Outstanding facility developments still remain, including better spectator facilities at the Galway Sports Ground for Connacht."
There was a caveat. "Included in the balance sheet are amounts advanced to branches in respect of stadium redevelopment loans. Two of these loans are in arrears and both of the branches concerned have indicated they are working to address this situation."
Rugby in Ireland, even in the north which is part of the United Kingdom, is seen as a sport that operates to the benefit of local communities and so justifies public investment. Munster attracted a crowd of 25,600 for their final Heineken Cup group game against Castres.
The three Welsh regions taking part in the Heineken Cup, Ospreys, Scarlets and Cardiff Blues, attracted between them in their last pool matches 23,371 spectators. The economy may not be booming in Ireland, but rugby union is. Leinster put 52 points on Bath; Munster hit Northampton for 51 and Ulster piled up 41 against Leicester, all meetings between former winners of the tournament. And there was Connacht's victory over Harlequins.
Where is the investment in English rugby from outside the game? London Irish are far from alone in the Premiership in trying to stem losses, with only two clubs operating at a profit. The salary cap is cited as the biggest single reason why England's leading clubs have struggled in Europe in recent seasons, but if it was raised to £8m how many would be able to afford to meet it?
They are virtually having to go it alone when it comes to improving grounds and facilities. The bills run up by many in recent seasons in drawing up development plans would pay for a good few marquee players. No £14.7m grants to share between the 12 of them, never mind enjoyed by one.
Board games
Bernard Lapasset promised when he was re-elected as the chairman of the International Rugby Board last month that he would waste no time in carrying out his mandate for change, and he has been true to his word.
The board announced last week that Mike Miller was standing down as chief executive after 10 years. This is his final week in charge and Lapasset is determined to find a big-hitter to replace him.
One source on the board said this week that the priority was to find someone who was high on credibility and who would lead change. "Pen-pushers need not apply," he said. "What this is about is Bernard empowering an excellent management team."
It remains to be seen whether any of the chief executives of member unions will be tempted to apply: New Zealand's Steve Tew, who has long campaigned for change in the way the governing body runs the game, has been tipped as a potential candidate, but in backing Beaumont against Lapasset he has some brickwork to repair.
Lapasset's backers want the executive of the IRB to be sorted out. Back in 2005, the member unions thought it was a good idea to prohibit paid employees from being allowed on to the executive, never mind that that game had been professional for 10 years.
It was an attempt, largely by the home unions, to ensure that pushy chief executives from the major southern hemisphere unions could only be on the board's council, but they are on the run after Lapasset's victory.
The new balance of power will be tested at the next meeting of the IRB in five weeks when World Cup finances will be on the agenda, as well as whether the next World Cup will start at the beginning of September, as the hosts England want, or at the end of that month, as the Sanzar unions and Argentina would prefer.
There is set to be a shakeup on the board of the tournament's organising body, Rugby World Cup Ltd, with the balance of power shifting away from the north. When Tew talked during the last World Cup about whether New Zealand would be able to afford to take part in the 2015 tournament, he was not considering plundering the profits which go to developing unions.
He was concerned with raising extra revenue and tapping into markets, such as Russia, South America and Asia, which were opening up because of the sport's Olympic status. He wanted the IRB to be more aggressive in the way it marketed the sport and he is not alone.
Boks seat
South Africa are expected to announce their new coach on Friday. Peter de Villiers, who took over from Jake White after the 2007 World Cup success, is a candidate, but not the favourite.
De Villiers seemed to indicate after South Africa were knocked out of the World Cup by Australia in last October's quarter-final that he would not be standing again. He took many hundreds of words to explain that, for him, it was the end.
He later said that the end had referred to his contract and that he wanted a new one, but the South African Rugby Union, which has had to carpet De Villiers more than once for outbursts in the media, is reported to want Heynecke Meyer, who once spent a few months at Leicester.
Meyer is currently in charge of the Blue Bulls, who said they wanted to keep him but would not stand in his way if he wanted to take charge of the national side. He lost out to De Villiers four years ago, prompting his departure for the Tigers but family issues forced him to return home less than halfway through his first season.
De Villiers did have his contract extended, but only until the end of this month. The union's executive will discuss the position on Thursday and make a recommendation to the full council the following day. The first task of the new coach will be to negotiate a three-Test series against England, who may be led by a former South Africa coach, Nick Mallett.
Cambridge blues
It is not just in the Premiership, or among the regions in Wales, that the chilly financial climate is having an impact. Cambridge, a national league club, this week sacked their director of rugby and told 14 players and staff they would not be paid this month.
It was little more than a year ago that Cambridge nearly went bust. HM Revenue and Customs issued a winding-up order over an unpaid tax bill and members raised nearly £170,000 to help stave off closure.
"We have had to make decisions to save the club's future," said the Cambridge chairman, Steve Bowller. "The bank are supportive and approve the actions that have been taken. There are still plenty of players who will be turning out to represent the club. No one has said categorically that they will not play. What we are trying to do in the cases of hardship is put some of the guys on the community coaching programme and help them find interim jobs."
Cambridge are coached by Andy Long, the former England hooker. He will be remaining with the club for the rest of the season. They are in National League One, along with some famous English clubs, Coventry, Blackheath and Rosslyn Park, who have struggled in the professional era.
Manchester are one of England's oldest clubs, formed in 1860 and formerly resident in National League One. Since losing 85% of their RFU funding in 2009, they have been stuck in a losing streak; their 137-0 reverse to Dudley Kingswinford in the National League 3 Midlands last Saturday was their 79th consecutive league defeat, an English record.
They still have some way to go to catch the Californian basketball team Caltech Beaver, who lost 310 successive matches in the NCAA third division over 26 years before tasting victory 11 months ago.