Nick Cain: IRB must take the blame for debacle over George North

In what appears to be a clear case of mistaken identity, Premiership Rugby have decided that  Northampton are the bad guys in the tug-of-war for George North’s services, when the real villains are the IRB. Northampton risk being fined by the English league’s administrative body for allowing North to play for Wales against Australia on Saturday evening when the two teams met in a Test that falls outside the IRB’s autumn international window.
However, the club have informed Premiership Rugby that North negotiated a clause in his contract which “allows him to represent Wales if and when selected”, irrespective of the IRB’s international windows.
It is clear that the Saints management acceded to the 21-year-old’s wishes because it would have been a deal-breaker if they had tried to prevent, or put obstacles in the way, of North playing for his country.
Denying any player the right to play international rugby is unjustifiable, and that is where Premiership Rugby are in danger of making a grave error. No matter how much the English league want to protect their own interests by having marquee players available for their own competition they cannot do so by trying to force their clubs into a corner with heavy fines.
The reality is that if they want to attract young stars of George North’s calibre, Northampton cannot dictate unreasonable contractual terms – and telling a player that he cannot play for his country is unreasonable.
If Premiership Rugby have an issue with anyone then it is with the IRB. It is the world governing body that decides, in consultation with their member nations, when the international windows fall – and it is the IRB that should police those windows to make sure that they are not infringed on by national Unions arranging extracurricular internationals.
As things stand, the IRB, who are the biggest Aunt Sally in sport, are failing dismally in their policing. Instead of insisting that all Unions play their matches in the defined periods around the Autumn
Internationals, Six Nations, Rugby Championship and summer tours – on pain of having IRB funding withheld – they allow  constant encroachment.
This is particularly true of the money-spinning Autumn Internationals. This season both England and Wales arranged Test matches outside the IRB’s autumn window, in both cases in order to play Australia. Nothing was done.
Given the overcrowding in the professional rugby’s fixture list – particularly in the Northern Hemisphere – the bending of the rules creates serious tension between some national Unions and their clubs. This is especially true of England and France, the two biggest Unions in the world, because, unlike the professional tier in South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, Scotland, Ireland and Italy, their players are not centrally contracted.
There is too much international rugby in the calendar, and at the moment the Test match currency is being undermined by far too many half-baked matches in an elite arena which should only be about the best playing the best. For instance, South Africa beating Scotland for the umpteenth time is as much of a yawn for Scottish fans as it is for the rest of us, and for it to be on prime-time terrestrial television is hardly showcasing Test rugby in its best light.
To Northampton’s credit they issued a robust defence of their position regarding North. A Saints statement said: “When North’s signing was announced it was hailed in the media and by the league’s hierarchy as a massive statement of intent by the club, and a reflection of the competitive nature and high profile offered by the Aviva premiership.”
The statement continued: “In order to realise this rare opportunity of bringing a player like George to Franklin’s Gardens we agreed to allow him to represent Wales if and when selected”.
Premiership Rugby cannot have their cake and eat it. If they want to attract 15 to 20 marquee players like North spread throughout their 12 clubs, who put bums on seats and help to give the English league the status of a world-class competition, then they either have to exercise some flexibility – or go after the culprits at the IRB who are not enforcing their own rules.
The multi-million pound question that this begs is whether Regulation 9 in the IRB law book, which governs the right of player release from clubs to national Unions, and vice versa, is actually enforceable under contract law.
There is a long held view that if club organisations such as Premiership Rugby in England and the top 14 (LNR) in France were to challenge Regulation 9 in competition law, that the clubs would be awarded primary rights to players as their main employees.
That legal battle has yet to take place, but if the IRB do not get their house in order you sense that the conflict will not be long in coming. In the meantime, honest young professionals like George North are caught in the crossfire of the IRB’s administrative shortcomings.
Nevertheless, despite their frustrations, there is nothing to be gained by Premiership Rugby punishing Northampton for issues that are fundamentally out of their control.