The ascent of Connacht rugby in the past year has been welcomed by almost everybody in the game - except perhaps people involved in rugby in Wales (see here).
However, Shane Curran is worried about rugby's growth in the west and the midlands and it's impact on the GAA in the region. Curran was speaking on Brendan Fanning and Peter O'Reilly's new podcast 'Down the Blindside'.
Curran referred to Jack Carty (St. Brigid's) and Robbie Henshaw (Garrycastle) as two players who have been lost to Gaelic football. He said that the GAA had been slack at investing in youth coaching in the midlands and the west.
He said Connacht rugby had been much more forward thinking when it came to plucking lads out of schools.
Fanning and O'Reilly said they hadn't detected this phenomenon in Dublin, possibly due to the Dub's success in the last four years.
Curran attributed this to the lack of investment in GAA coaching outside of Dublin.
You have the haves and have nots. The reason Dublin can do it is there are plenty of commercial entities that are willing to back it. Secondly the GAA have poured millions not only into Gaelic football in Dublin, but also hurling. We see down in the depths of the west of Ireland and in the midlands, in particular, that there has been no infrastructural investment in coaching whatsoever, and unless that slide is arrested you're going to see far more players gravitating towards the rugby game.
Listen here.
