Once again the clubs are cribbing, and at a time when all else in the garden is smelling so rosy, the temptation could be to ignore them. Yet they do have much to moan about.

If, as the IRFU's fitness expert Dr Liam Hennessy maintains, Ireland's professional tier of players should not be obliged to play more than 25 to 30 games a year, then why ask the amateur tier to play four games in 10 days next April due to the backlog of AIB League first division fixtures?

It's a fair point, which has been made by Shannon, although they could have made it a bit better. For starters, the timing wasn't great, given they somewhat grandiosely decided to hold a press conference at noon last Saturday before their home match with Dungannon. What's more, some positive counter proposals wouldn't have gone amiss either.

Cork Constitution, on the other hand, reiterated Shannon's point yesterday as they could well face a similar four-gamesin-10-days itinerary in April, but amidst their general criticisms of the IRFU's handling of the club game, did provide some positive suggestions of their own.

Wally Morrissey, Constitution's director of rugby, expressed the club's concern of the union's handling of the AIL and while admitting that they were fully behind the IRFU's three-tiered structure, this came with the proviso that the clubs would be better catered for than is the case.

"Basically, what the club are looking for is a relaunching of the AIB League from next season to ensure it is a meaningful competition which right now we believe isn't the case," said Morrissey. His, and Con's concerns, like many others, have been compounded by the apparent fait accompli which is the Celtic League, to the further diminishment of the AIL, and the increasingly limited appearances of their international players.

Cork Constitution agreed to the concept of a 16-team first division "against our better judgement" according to Morrissey, on the grounds that it was a little cumbersome and on the basis that it would be revamped. The club propose either a 10-club first division or an amendment of the 16-team first division whereby the clubs would be divided into two sections of eight, who would play each other on a home and away basis.

The second proposal would allow for a format whereby the first half of seven series could be played without contracted players, and the second half with them, including the internationals. This would allow for a fairer playing field, for as this column has pointed out before, it's a bit rich of clubs whose professionals are paid by the union to insist that league matches only take place when those players are available.

Were a club such as Shannon, Con or St Mary's, with a dozen or so contracted players, to play a team such as Clontarf with none, the union are effectively financing an imbalanced fixture. However, Con's proposed home and away format would be far more equitable.

It also reduces the number of fixtures by one, ensures the same number of home matches for everybody, and still allows for the existing play-off format in that the two sectional winners could have home advantage over the two sectional runnersup in the semi-finals. It has a lot to recommend it and is at least a positive proposal from one of the clubs as opposed to the usual bleating. Whether the clubs themselves could even produce a clear majority in favour is, of course, another matter.

Right now the clubs do indeed have a lot to moan about, and the ripple effect caused by the IRB's dictums to the 10 nominated referees for the Six Nations Championship provide another case in point.

All over the country it seems, referees once again were incurring the wrath of players, coaches and spectators alike last weekend - some admittedly more than others. Cork Constitution coach Brian Hickey possibly complains about referees a mite too much and there were elements of another first division game which suggests one coach is still paying for some critical post-match comments regarding one referee.

Nevertheless, Hickey had a valid, generalised point about refereeing at club level in the AIL when commenting: "We're constantly looking for clarification about this third man in (at the tackle/breakdown). There seems to have been a conference in Argentina when referees are told to do it one way, then we hear one thing from one source and another thing from somewhere else."

"What I would say is it's very easy for us as coaches to tell the players what the referees are looking for and their interpretation of it, and it certainly makes the game a better spectacle for supporters. And it's also in the interests of referees if players are aware of what they're looking for. But I think it's a very grey area at the moment and it seems that different things apply at the various levels the game is played."

"At international level guys are seeing things on telly and then they're going out there in a club game a week later and they could be seeing the exact opposite happen or the exact same happen. The team that you expect to get the penalty one week aren't getting the penalty the next week and it's very confusing. I appreciate what they're saying about wanting to have a fair contest in the tackle but I don't think that was happening today."

His Young Munster counterpart, Matt te Pau, argues that Irish rugby has much going for it right now "but having developed professional players and coaches, the individual who sometimes remains the most important figure on the pitch remains amateur."