Ex-Ireland star backs United Rugby Championship despite criticism after Six Nations

Former Irish international Andrew Conway has backed the United Rugby Championship after Andy Farrell’s team made it back-to-back Six Nations titles. Conway, who won 32 caps for his country before being forced to retire in November last year with a knee injury, spent his entire club career in the competition, playing for Leinster from 2010 to 2013 before spending a decade at Munster.

The competition has undergone numerous alterations since Irish provinces were first introduced into the then-named Celtic League in 2001, with Leinster (eight), Munster (four), Connaught and Ulster having claimed 14 of the 22 titles on offer since. And in Wales in particular, the league has become maligned with the four professional sides plagued by a lack of investment and the struggle to compete with their counterparts.

But Conway argued that the introduction of the South African teams into the competition in 2017/18 had added a new dimension, and helped prepare players stepping up to their national sides. “Leinster top the table but are not dominating,” he said, via www.NewBettingSites.uk.

“The Welsh sides are having a difficult period but Glasgow and Edinburgh are both challenging. And the trips to South Africa are tough, but help get players into the mode of having to travel away and perform.

“So here in Ireland there hasn’t been many criticisms over the standard or the competitiveness of the league. Although the intensity of the European competitions is obviously greater, the URC still provides a real test for our teams.”

Conway, 32, won two league crowns in his career and was also pivotal to Ireland’s Triple Crown success in 2022. His former side appeared odds-on to become the first side in the Six Nations era to win consecutive Grand Slams, but despite retaining the Championship a last-ditch loss to England at Twickenham scuppered that dream.

The competition followed an agonising World Cup quarter-final defeat to New Zealand, with many having tipped Farrell’s men to go all the way in France. But Conway also argued there had been no hangover from the tournament following the retirements of icons such as Jonny Sexton and Keith Earls.

“Losing Jonny (Sexton) after he’s been so important to so long obviously takes some getting used to,” he added. “But it’s given the chance for fresh blood to come in and there is still plenty of experience in the group and competition for places.”

Ireland’s next challenge will come in July on a two-test tour of South Africa. In November, Farrell’s side will then host New Zealand, Argentina, Fiji and Australia in their Autumn International Series matches.