A view from the sidelines

What is the world cup for? Don’t get me wrong, apart from the silly o’clock starts to watch some of the group games, I love a good world cup. I was spared England’s thrashing by South Africa in 2007, as I was in Spain & the only bar that offered to show the game would only do so after it had aired Coronation Street followed by a Leeds Rhinos game.

The final was great though, in a different bar split roughly 80/20 England to Saffas, a great atmosphere & plentiful ale & no hard feelings at the end of the game.

But what is the point of holding the tournament? Is it to showcase the best sport in the world & if so why do we believe this is the best sport in the world? When I started playing rugby it was partly because it did not matter that I was the short, fat, wheezy kid who couldn’t really run, they had a position for me & it was called prop. The following year having slimmed a little & got the hang of this running malarkey, I was told I still had a position & it was called hooker. A couple of other mates whose closest interest in sport was their Green Flash trainers joined in too, giving the clumsy, the lazy, the uncoordinated a sport they could participate & even excel in. 

Then there was this other thing, about an ethos in the sport, advantage being played, for friendlies & tour games, the game being reffed in “the spirit” of the game rather than to the letter of the law. I find myself dispirited to see things like a forward pass by Japan given in the last throws of the game, would 83-12 really have disadvantaged the Kiwis when the pool games end & the top two move on? Having said that Dave Pearson had not alternative other than to bin two Tongan players this morning, but then again, they were not playing in the spirit either. 

Rugby as sport has its roots in the English public school system(so history would have you believe), but has been transplanted in to Pacific islands as an alternative to tribal warfare, even replacing cannibalism for some nation states. It has found its way in to the slums of India, giving street kids a sense of belonging, team work, job prospects. It has been used in Los Angeles, California as an alternative to, & in some cases a way out of, the violent gang culture. It ceased being a game for the upper echelons of society & has become one of the most inclusive sports on the globe. 

So why do Tier Two nations feel as though they are being discriminated against? The Samoa & Gloucester centre Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu claimed via Twitter that Samoa suffered unfair treatment, having to play Wales four days after their initial game, where as Wales had a week off. He compared it to apartheid, a system of separation by class or race, but the grounds on which the Tier Two nations are separated on has more to do with advertising revenue than playing ability. It was mooted by one of the commentators during the Ulster-Cardiff game last Friday, that were Samoa to play in the Six Nations championship, they would likely take a couple of scalps each year. If the 6N goes to a one up, one down relegation system, then Georgia would likely become a regular fixture in the calendar, with Romania & Russia occasionally giving a scare to the current powers in European rugby. 

Which brings me back to the World Cup, what is it trying to achieve? A showcase of the best nations in the game, competing in the way only rugby players can, knocking seven bells out of one another, but shaking hands at the end of the game, no talking back to referees, showing other sports how respect really works. Except if you come from a smaller, newer nation to RWC. If the game I love really does have a place for everybody, why are we discriminating against some of the more able, if poorer teams? I did hear that New Zealand was given the right to host the World Cup, not because they had the best bid (Japan’s was deemed to be the preferred choice), but the All Blacks claimed that they would go bust & cease to be able to continue if they did not get the revenue the RWC generates. So if the World Cup is there to raise the profile, attract new fans & players, demonstrate what the game has to offer, do we have to allow a monopoly by the old guard, in order to gain the new money? 

At least I have been able to watch some good contests, albeit at silly times of the day, even at the weekends, but worth it to watch the outstanding Irish pack beat up the Aussies, perhaps it just comes down to not being able to influence things, always far easier on the park than in front of the goggle box. Next up Gateshead IV vs Nothern IIIs.