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 18/9/07
As rugby's World Cup enters its second week
of what might be termed its "phoney war", a
sober, dispassionate observer must wonder
whether some, especially in the television
media, have suspended any public obligation
to be responsible critics.
To suggest, as some commentators in
television and others in the media have
done, that Portugal's performance against
the All Blacks justifies the places of
"minnow" nations in the tournament and that
it rebutted any argument for streamlining
the format, defies all that is logical and
rational.
Sure, the Portuguese brought plenty of
spirit and endeavour to the game, they sung
their national anthem with passion and they
celebrated with gusto their scoring
achievements. But the reality remained that
this was a hopeless mismatch which did as
much to advance rugby as a global sport as
the All Blacks' 1995 145-17 win over Japan.
Portugal was still slaughtered by a century
of points by an All Black team which, by its
lofty standards, did not play all that well
and which, with so many players either out
of practice or out of position, was somewhat
disjointed.
It was yet another gross distortion of what
a test match is supposed to be about and in
a sense an effrontery to those who have gone
before when an international cap and jersey
were something precious.
Think of those outstanding players of the
past who, through circumstances, ill luck
and the tighter criteria which applied in
their time, never had as much as a second on
the field as an All Black – the likes of the
fine Auckland captain of the 1960s Bob
Graham or the Waikato loose forward of the
1980s and early-90s, Duane Monkley.
And what might that stalwart of Auckland and
North Auckland sides of the 1960s and '70s,
Frank Colthurst, have thought when in the
frolic against Portugal no fewer than three
hookers – Andrew Hore, Anton Oliver and
Keven Mealamu – all took the field.
It is incongruous, too, to reflect on the
worth of an All Black jersey now if an old
team photo of the 1950s is studied. Then,
players who were in the squad as reserves
were included in the photo but without the
silver fern on their jerseys. Now any Tom,
Dick and Harry can go to the nearest sports
store and run around in jerseys which we are
told are replicas but which look very much
like the real thing.
You can only wonder again how invaluable a
soft exercise against a side like Portugal
will be when suddenly the All Blacks find
themselves in a quarter-final which is
looking increasingly like being France. It's
a scary thought, but in the now infamous
semifinal in 1999 France went into that game
also having struggled in all previous
matches and, indeed, being lucky to escape
with a win over Fiji.
Some essential questions arise: what value
has there been in taking Keith Robinson and
Reuben Thorne to the tournament when clearly
even before the team left New Zealand they
were far from 100%? What must Alex Wyllie
and John Hart be thinking? About the only
thing they agreed on in 1991 was that they
needed Mike Brewer in their squad, only to
have him ruled out through a late fitness
test.
And, given the ease with which the All
Blacks have cruised through their pool
games, has the disruption the rest of the
New Zealand season has suffered for the sake
of winning the World Cup been worth it?
At this stage, even though there is still a
long way to go in the tournament, it seems a
safe bet that it will be an all-southern
hemisphere final and, dare it be suggested,
in view of the way Argentina has performed,
it may even be all-southern semis, with the
Pumas meeting the impressive Springboks.
Which leaves a few more questions lingering
for apologists for northern hemisphere
rugby, mainly those who have had their bank
accounts inflated by wealthy club owners,
and myopic southern hemisphere knockers such
as exist in the UK press.
One would have thought the message would
have penetrated after the misfortunes in New
Zealand of Clive Woodward's Lions in 2005.
That side failed miserably because the
players could not adjust to the greater pace
and tempo with which the game is played in
this country.
The power of the pound, the Euro, and even
the yen may be damaging to rugby in South
Africa, Australia and especially New
Zealand. But for every Luke McAlister who is
lost there is a Stephen Brett or Stephen
Donald coming on to take their place.
Instead of gloating about raiding southern
hemisphere stocks, British journalists
should be more concerned that their own
national interests are being seriously
compromised, much like has already happened
with their soccer and cricket.
LINDSAY KNIGHT |
RugbyHeaven | Tuesday, 18 September 2007 |
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