“There are two issues to the whole concept,” he declared. ‘One issue is the 10-week, condition pre-season programme. It is what it is and we could argue all day about the merits or otherwise of it. But we knew about it from last May and there’s no point in moaning about it now.”
He’s right in one aspect; there is no point in moaning about it because it makes perfect sense. If McNaughton had witnessed the summer series in South Africa, where a lightweight Ireland ceded 17lb a man upfront, he would have realised that much. That’s not to say he should cheer it from the rafters but at least he should, like his provincial counterparts, appreciate the need for it.
Everybody has sympathy for the provinces having to make-do without so many of their internationals during the Celtic League. It’s a controversial policy and one that is being overplayed by the IRFU. Perhaps the early-release programme is their way of recognising that but, once again, McNaughton is not happy.
Yesterday Munster had Frankie Sheahan, John Hayes and David Wallace available to them while Leinster had only Guy Easterby and Eric Miller, whom they opted not to start in any case. It was illogical, McNaughton said, for Munster to get Sheahan and Hayes now while Leinster had to wait a week for Shane Byrne and a fortnight for Reggie Corrigan.
Did he pick up the phone and ask for the reasons? No. Did Eddie O’Sullivan, Ireland’s coach, pick up the phone and offer an explanation? Again, no.
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You can say with some justification that O’Sullivan should have made the first call but since he didn’t and since McNaughton seemingly had a problem then surely if he really and truly wanted to resolve it then he would have contacted the coach directly. Last week’s furore — which forced O’Sullivan on to national radio to defend his position — was not all about who didn’t ring whom, however. There was more to it than that, more than the rights and wrongs of player release, as well for that matter.
That much is abundantly clear by an extraordinary and highly revealing comment by McNaughton. “Leinster are not being paranoid that Eddie and the boys would do this to us in the week we’re playing Munster,” he said. Sorry? Surely he was misquoted. Surely it was an off-the-record remark that was never intended for publication. No.
You don’t have to be too skilled at interpreting statements to realise that McNaughton is accusing O’Sullivan of bias, of favouring Munster over Leinster, of putting his professionalism to one side in pursuit of a private agenda against the Irish coach’s one-time assistant, Declan Kidney, now in charge of Leinster. Quite a claim.
Either that comment is the most paranoid statement of the year, in which case you fear for Leinster going forward, or else it is a very cynical, and transparent, ploy to (a) garner sympathy for poor Leinster and their put-upon coach and (b) apply extra public pressure on O’Sullivan at a time when his methods are being questioned by rugby folk. Either way, Leinster don’t come across as a particularly mature outfit; neither have they conducted their business with a whole lot of savvy.
There are plenty of rugby men in this country who could teach Leinster the fine arts of spin and the first rule is that if you have a grievance you don’t climb atop the highest building and shout out loud. You get into the long grass where nobody can see you, whisper your thoughts and stand well clear when they are aired in public later on. Then again, we could have got it all wrong and this thing could actually have been about player release after all. But we doubt it.