€6 Million White Elephant on the Donnybrook Road

[combatlogo]

I went along to the Colours Match last night, first time back at a game in Donnybrook since last season.

To say the attendance was sparse was an an understatement - I actually thought I'd got kick-off time wrong there were so few people at it. Ten minutes before kick-off, there were more stewards on the main terrace than punters. I would also say there were no more than 200-250 people in the main stand.

Here's my point - I'd have imagined that the Colours game would have been a showpiece for the new Donnybrook certain posters on here are convinced was necessary, the reality (even allowing for a Thursday night kick-off) was markedly different - when I was in college, colours games were jam packed into Donnybrook, albeit normally held on a Sunday afternoon.

IMO the branch has built a monumnet to self-congratulatory blazerism in the form of the new stand - if the old one was becoming unsafe, then a larger terrace could have been built at a fraction of the cost.

6 million notes would have funded an awful lot of RDO's, kit, footballs, marketing etc etc in an effort to develop the game in the province.

[epaddy]

Did we not do this a couple of weeks ago?

[combatlogo]

Did we not do this a couple of weeks ago?

We did - IIRC, the Colours game was one of the ones touted to fill the place.

[tate]

agreed, the attendance was very low. There were more gaurds and stewards than spectators.

I would suggest a few reasons for this.

1. The trinity vs ucd thing isnt as big as it used to be
2. A thursday night isnt conducive to a large crowd.
3. There wasnt any notice of the game around campus, i only knew about it cos im i member of the club and was emailed about it.

[Leinsterman]

Did we not do this a couple of weeks ago?

We did - IIRC, the Colours game was one of the ones touted to fill the place.

I would put forward the utterly bizarre and "outworldish" notion that perhaps a Thursday evening, particularly when many college people are on study break and many other rugby people may be training, is in fact a stupid time to hold a rugby match.
Even two years ago, there was quite a large crowd at it - quell surprise, it was on a Friday night.

[Hickiefan]

What was the final score?

[tate]

50 - 20

UCD ran out easy winners

[Sea_point]

50 - 20

UCD ran out easy winners

Perhaps potential punters foresaw the scoreline? Therea are Twenty places between the two teams in the AIL after all, not conducive to a close scoreline....

[simonno6]

there was nothing about the game in ucd.. what do they expect?

Its not that big a deal any more amoungst the students as you are no longer able to pelt the players with flour and eggs and drink cans by the crateload on the terraces.. thats why it appealed to the student bodies of both colleges.. not the clashing of two ail league heavyweights..

hard to know what would be better, a packed donnybrook in absolute chaos with birdman pulling his hair out or a sparsley crowded donnybrook with no trouble at all.

[tate]

there was nothing about the game in ucd.. what do they expect?

Its not that big a deal any more amoungst the students as you are no longer able to pelt the players with flour and eggs and drink cans by the crateload on the terraces.. thats why it appealed to the student bodies of both colleges.. not the clashing of two ail league heavyweights..

hard to know what would be better, a packed donnybrook in absolute chaos with birdman pulling his hair out or a sparsley crowded donnybrook with no trouble at all.

i know which i would prefer.

there were a few eggs thrown last night, but it was the exception rather than the norm

[Duff Paddy]

6 million notes would have funded an awful lot of RDO's, kit, footballs, marketing etc etc in an effort to develop the game in the province.

6 million notes? It was 5 million a while ago. I'm not disputing the figure per se, it just seems a bit rounded off if you know what I mean.

In any case, the fact that you've said that the money could have been better spent on marketing leads me to believe that you're just taking the piss.

[combatlogo]

6 million notes would have funded an awful lot of RDO's, kit, footballs, marketing etc etc in an effort to develop the game in the province.

6 million notes? It was 5 million a while ago. I'm not disputing the figure per se, it just seems a bit rounded off if you know what I mean.

In any case, the fact that you've said that the money could have been better spent on marketing leads me to believe that you're just taking the piss.

6 million was the figured quoted by the Branch President on Setanta coverage before the Belvo v Gick SCT game.

Do you really think 6 million lids for a stand for schoolboys is a good investment?

[Duff Paddy]

Do you really think 6 million lids for a stand for schoolboys is a good investment?

No. But I think it's a good start.

[tate]

oh goody, another schools rugby "debate".

[combatlogo]

oh goody, another schools rugby "debate".

Nothing to do with schools rugby, it's about where the branch is investing funds.

Start of what Duff? A whole brand spanking new stadium for schoolboys?

[John_C]

oh goody, another schools rugby "debate".

Nothing to do with schools rugby, it's about where the branch is investing funds.

Start of what Duff? A whole brand spanking new stadium for schoolboys?

Hopefully.

[Duff Paddy]

Why not? You might be happy with the 3rd world sporting infrastructure in this country but I certainly am not. The redevelopment of Donnybrook is a great investment by the branch in the grass roots of the game (and that's not just schools as you well know) and hopefully just the start of a wider series of capital investments in sporting infrastructure in this kip of a country.

[BlueBlue]

it looks great too............

[Dave Cahill]

The redevelopment of Donnybrook is a great investment by the branch in the grass roots of the game

Hardly grass roots Duff. They have the third and fourth largest population centres in the country in their area, and in terms of investment in Blanchardstown and Tallaght, 6 million would go a lot further and do a lot more for grass roots rugby being invested in those areas. Whether or not theres a great new stand (and it is lovely) in Donnybrook is a complete irrelevance in growing the game in these areas, and indeed the other massively expanding population centres throughout the province.

As it happens, I think a stadium the size of 'new' Donnybrook is required in the Province, and the fact that it is being redeveloped in a revenue neutral manner is to be applauded. I don't think it means anything in terms of grass roots rugby though.

[Duff Paddy]

The grass roots as a term is distinct from growing the game in untraditional areas. By grass roots I am referring to the game as played at an amateur level in the province and as such, the redevelopment of Donnybrook is certainly an investment in this part of the game.

Now if I understood it, Combatlogos argument was that the money could have been better spent - though the examples he gave were not very compelling, e.g. marketing, kits - and maybe it could have been. However my point is that the IRFU are not short of cash - however much this stadium redevelopment cost (and I have no idea what it actually cost in the end), did not come at the expense of growing the game in untraditional areas. They are separate initiatives that have their own budget and resources. Good work is being done - just ask Tallaght and Unidare (congrats to Unidare's new youth team btw). The stadium in Donnybrook was in dire need of redevelopment and the branch did the right thing by pressing ahead with it. The game needs to be grown in untraditional areas and the branch are doing this too.