NICK CAIN

Major contsruction: Ireland’s Aviva Stadium
PICTURE: Getty Images

RUGBY Union is fourth in the pecking order of popular team sports in Ireland, behind Gaelic football, hurling, and soccer – and yet it punches well above its weight, both on the playing field and in its administrative boardrooms.
This is thrown into sharp relief by the size of the Irish Rugby Football Union’s financial reserves before the start of the coronavirus pandemic, compared to its counterparts in the Four Home Unions.
The Irish governing body was in a league of its own, recording total...