By Mick Cleary
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=/sport/2007/10/23/srmick123.xml
Never mind the pundits. Well, at least not those miserable doomsayers who claim that the 2007 Rugby World Cup has seen the death of rugby with its preference for the 'anti-jeu', the game of kicking and pressure. France did it. And suffered the consequences. Argentina did it. And revelled in its rewards.
There are a lot of people who claim England did it. But that's because they have patches over their eyes and chips on their shoulders. Try telling that to those who flocked to Paris at the weekend, or who gathered in and around Heathrow and Twickenham yesterday trying to catch a glimpse of the side returning home.
Skinned: US winger Takudzwa Ngwenya (l) leaves South Africa's winger Bryan Habana in his wake
Those who say that England have been dull and boring and limited have not been watching. For the early part of the tournament England were simply dreadful, not good enough to kick the ball properly.
To slate RWC 2007 is to ignore its merits. Yes, there was too much kicking, a lot of it aimless. Yes, there is a pressing need to encourage ball-in-hand movement. The prize was the thing at this World Cup. As it always has been. And should be. But change is afoot. There are new laws upon us.
Let's turn instead to those who thronged stadiums the length and breadth of France, and, in lesser numbers, even Cardiff and Murrayfield. The average attendance was around 47,000, an incredible turn-out.
They are the ones who embraced RWC 2007, injected warmth and enthusiasm into the occasion, reminded us all that sport is to be enjoyed first and foremost and is not just a means of proving who is the biggest kid in the global playground every four years.
The tournament is the thing, with its warts as well as its wonders. If RWC 2007 proved anything to us it is that rugby remains a game of many shades.
If stylish impression was the only criterion for evaluating a tournament's success, or indeed for deciding its ultimate winner, than Brazil and Argentina would win the football World Cup every time.
No, we have to search for other things. For technical excellence, for example, and in that regard no one could question Argentina's right to be at top table.
The Pumas brought more than their esprit de corps to the party. They are an intelligent side. They know how to mix their options, how to react to an ever-changing field in front of them. They are bright blokes playing with finely-tuned purpose as well as deep-welled passion. Agustin Pichot, Juan Martin Hernandez, Felipe Contepomi – the orchestrators. There was not a better midfield trio in the tournament.
Their sense of solidarity and togetherness was moving. Their twitching, streaming faces at the anthems, the sight of burly, macho men such as Rodrigo Roncero and Mario Ledesma, blubbing like babes, reminds you that rugby is a sport of the soul as much as it is of athleticism and muscle.
That has been true across the board. From Portugal to Georgia to the Pacific Island teams through to South Africa and England.
The Springboks were worthy winners, tougher in the tense moments, ready to strike back if they needed to. Theirs was a long, rutted road to glory. Testing times lie ahead, and the moment must not be wasted either by over-zealous politicians or blinkered traditionalists. Bryan Habana, the South Africa wing, deservedly won the IRB Player of the Year award.
There have been highlights for all palettes, moments and matches to explain quite why so many people turned out in such numbers. More people have watched this World Cup than ever before. There were more than two million in the stadiums and countless millions round the world watching on television. 18 million tuned in to the France-England semi-final.
In fact, there were more people watching England-South Africa on television in France (7million) than they were in England (5.6million). Whoever said that the French might be remote, aloof, cold and exclusive misread the situation horribly. The country has been en fete this past seven weeks.
There has been plenty to titillate the senses: every second of the Wales-Fiji game in Nantes, that 38-34 extravaganza, that match which stretched and twisted, that game of nerve and daring which will live in the memory and which will go down in the annals as one of the greatest games every played.
There are cameos, too, that come to mind; the deliriously daft run towards the Millennium Stadium touchline of France scrum-half Jean Baptiste Elissalde, the skinning of Habana, by rookie USA wing, Takudzwa Ngwenya, the touchline conversion of Japan's Shotaro Onishi to tie the game against Canada, 12-12, five minutes beyond normal time in the last piece of action; the abundant tearaway skill of Fiji flanker Akapusi Qera, the cover tackle of South Africa's JP Pietersen, the forgotten Springbok wing, on Fijian lock Ifereima Rawaqa to save a try and perhaps the Boks' entire World Cup campaign, the collective hammering of the line by Georgia against Ireland, the despair on Irish faces, likewise the desolation on the face of France captain Raphael Ibanez as he contemplated the end of a dream sitting in the sin-bin as France ended the World Cup as it began, with defeat to Argentina.
Sport can be cruel as well as uplifting, merciless as well as magical. RWC 2007 gave us both ends of the spectrum.
France may have left the tournament by the basement window to pinch an evocative phrase used by a colleague in L'Equipe but it can hold its head high for its organisational skills as well as its inclination for a bit of fun along the way. It has been wholly welcoming and inclusive, as Australia and Australians were four years ago.
New Zealand has a tough act to follow. No-one doubts the beauty of the setting, the appropriateness too of a major rugby country having the right to host the seventh World Cup.
What one does have doubts over is its capacity to be broad-minded and all-embracing, to be generous not just in its simple gestures, for as the Lions tour in 2005 showed that is not in question, but in its ability to see beyond the All Blacks. RWC 2011 in New Zealand is about involving the entire rugby community not just providing a stage for an All Black triumph.
The sneering tone of many commentaries from New Zealand, its undisguised contempt for English rugby, suggest that they may have to loosen up, learn some manners and live life with a bit of grace and generosity if RWC 2011 is to emulate this tournament.
France has done a splendid job, from first to last.
Forget the complaints about England's unfashionable style of rugby: trends come and go, but the thrill of competition remains.
Lawrence Booth Guardian
So, the wisdom is that an English victory in Paris on Saturday evening will be a Terrible Thing for rugby. Presumably, after experts everywhere had watched Lionel Beauxis et amis kick away the ball for most of the semi-final in their obsession not to be out-thought as at Sydney 2003, they would have said the same about the French. Right? Almost certainly wrong. This is England we are talking about: the team most likely to enrage everyone else by dint of their very existence and - by delicious coincidence - the story of this and any other Rugby World Cup.
Yet the terrible-thing-for-rugby thesis has been put forward by so many pundits that it surely bears scrutiny, even if those pundits tend to come from countries whose own teams have fallen short of expectations. It's an age-old sporting problem. Beauty v brawn, artist v artisan, skill v stamina, 20-yard reverse-flick v rumbling, rolling maul. The general assumption is that the former should always trump the latter. And if that's the only reason you watch rugby, then it's hard to disagree.
But, as no professional athlete will ever tire of telling you, top-class sport is played as much in the mind as it is on the field. It is why cricket, with its thousand, easily distillable, individual battles all adding up to a team game, can be so gripping. It is why Brad Gilbert, a tennis player of little natural ability, was able to write a book called Winning Ugly that contained a ringing endorsement from Andre Agassi, one of the game's most seductive stylists.
And - with a nod to those experts who have noticed a subtle but vital change of tactics as the tournament has progressed - it is why watching an England side of limited talent grunt, grit, shove, kick, ruck and maul their way to the final has been as absorbing as anything in British sport since the 2005 Ashes. Not absorbing-exciting: just plain absorbing. And besides, people I know who usually can't stand the game are suddenly taking an interest. At its best, this interest might develop into something greater. At its worst, it is little more than parochialism. But either way, is it bad for rugby?
Defending the England rugby team is not necessarily a fashionable stance. I expect the comments under this piece will point out that England - miserable, boring, lucky old England - would have lost to Australia if Stirling Mortlock had kicked that penalty and to France if Joe Worsley hadn't tap-tackled Vincent Clerc. Well, folks, that's sport. Ask Bayern Munich and Manchester United. Ask Jean van de Velde. Ask Shane Warne when he dropped Kevin Pietersen at The Oval. If you're looking for logic and justice, try the high court.
The truth is that this tournament has been a triumph for defence rather than attack. Bernard Laporte claimed that the only side capable of putting 30 points on the big teams was New Zealand, but that must remain a hypothesis until 2011. True, South Africa duffed up Argentina, but two of their tries were interceptions, and another was the result of a knock-on in his own 22 by Juan Martín Hernández. Regardless of whether South Africa rack up another 36 against England on Saturday, the killer stat from this World Cup is more likely to be the 178 tackles France made on the shellshocked All Blacks. It even briefly turned their defence coach, Dave Ellis, into a minor celebrity.
In that sense, England have not exactly bucked the trend. Rather, they have taken it to an inexorable - and, for many, grim - extreme. But to reach the conclusion that they are ruining rugby is just hysterical. Even the most cursory of glances at sporting history shows that trends come and go, but the thrill of competition remains. Did cricket survive Bodyline? Was football torn apart by 1-0 wins for Arsenal? Was tennis ruined by the generation of big servers who threatened to overwhelm Wimbledon in the 1990s?
Sport constantly evolves as teams adapt to, and prosper under, the latest sets of rules. In cricket, you are no longer allowed more than two men behind square on the leg-side. In football, linesmen now give the benefit of the offside doubt to the attacking side. In tennis, different grass was used at SW19 to slow things up. The IRB is currently trialling the so-called Stellenbosch Experimental Laws, which put a premium on more attacking play. But as things stand, you would have to be a rose-tinted romantic not to play in a style that best suits both your game and the regulations.
There is honour in application and tenacity and doggedness and a willingness to recognise your limitations. The England side that almost won the 1991 World Cup under Will Carling offered precisely those qualities until they started tossing it around in the final against Australia - and it is because of their ultimate failure that we remember them. This England team would have gone down as unmitigated disasters if a more expansive game had cost them in the quarter-finals. Instead, we have witnessed one of the great come-from-behind tales in all sport. What genuine sports fan can begrudge that?
Interview by John Inverdale
Last Updated: 2:17am BST 04/10/2007
When you see the old footage of John Kirwan doing the haka, compared to the modern intimidatory histrionics, frankly it's all a bit girly. He is not so much staring you out and challenging you as offering tea and scones.You might be watching him, but your mind could be elsewhere, studying the clouds or checking the stadium architecture. It was only when he got the ball in his hand that you needed 100 per cent concentration. Otherwise he was gone. Past you or through you. One of the finest wingers the world of rugby has seen.
John Kirwan: on a mission to see rugby grow around the world
Yet when you actually do have tea with John Kirwan, it is as demanding as it must have been marking him. If your mind wanders, or your eyes glance at a passing hemline, he spots it. ''What do you think?" he says, meaning not the hemline, but the point he has been making for the past few minutes. Make that hours. When Kirwan – 63 caps and a World Cup winner on the only occasion so far when the All Blacks really did get it right – talks, he really talks. And you really listen. Because what he has to say is well worth listening to.
We are in the Hotel Concorde in Paris. He has been to the gym and is wearing a T-shirt with Nadal-esque styling so the biceps are rippling, and the GI-cropped hair gives the appearance of a mercenary en route to some African republic. Some say he actually is a rugby mercenary, jumping from one country to another chasing an easy buck, but then he talks, and his passion for the sport overwhelms.
''My God, what I'd love to do for this game. If I was a politician, I would issue a manifesto about what it should be doing, and where it should be going. Someone needs to stand up and make rugby union's mandate clear for the next 10-20 years. What is anybody actually doing about the future? I just don't get it."
There are lots of things that Kirwan doesn't get. It's a phrase he uses repeatedly when talking about the direction the sport is taking internationally, but also on the more parochial level of domestic competitions across Europe.
He is a man with a vision, and the vision is this. ''All sport, but this sport in particular, is about growth through competition. So what we need is to have as our starting point that we want 12 potential winners of the Rugby World Cup by 2023, and everything is geared towards that.
''So first things first. You've got to get Argentina in somewhere, and the best bet might well be in the Six Nations. How do you do that? By getting the Six Nations into two divisions. Bring Argentina in in a couple of years' time, and they have to play in division two.
''You'd expect them to win that, and then they play-off against the bottom team in division one. Imagine what a game that would be. Scotland against Argentina at Murrayfield, and the loser gets Portugal and Spain the next season, and the winner meets England and France and the rest. That would sure focus a few minds."
We're off now. Not so much a plan for world domination, just a man on a mission. A rugby evangelist calling for converts. ''The other countries that would play in division two would be teams like Georgia and Portugal, who have given so much to this World Cup. Then we need a Georgian team playing in the Heineken Cup. We also need Georgian clubs playing in the French leagues. Romanian teams playing in the French leagues, starting in division two or three.
''Then we need Italian sides playing in the Magners League. Why was that idea blocked before? Then you need American teams playing high-level rugby all the time. Why can't a team based on the west coast play in the Super 14 and one in New York play in the Magners League?
''Don't tell me it can't happen. It's a hell of a sight easier to get from Cardiff to New York than it is from Wellington to Durban. All these things can be done, could be done, but people are always looking for ways of saying 'no' instead of 'great idea – let's do it'. I don't get it."
If you think about looking away, perhaps to seek a re-fill for the cuppa, he fixes you with that piercing stare. Don't you dare turn your gaze away from me. I've barely started, the eyes are saying.
''It's about having a clear and coherent view of what we actually want this game to become. People keep throwing out random ideas – but we're all just crying out for proper leadership.
''Look at it logically, and the improvement in the Tongan and Samoan teams is being funded by private individuals in England and France at the clubs where these guys are playing. Is that what we want? Are we as a sport really running the game to grow its popularity across the world?
'There are still far too many people in power running the game for their own benefit. And if we're talking money, just think of this. Where is the commercial future? Is it in Wales, with a population of three million, or is it in Japan or China, with populations of hundreds of millions, or even billions? That's why the decision about 2011 was so crazy. The money the game could have made by holding the World Cup in Japan was amazing."
Kirwan did not endear himself to his native country by being such an outspoken critic of the decision to award New Zealand the 2011 World Cup. He is unrepentant, even more so since taking the coaching job in Japan and guiding them to within inches of two victories – a tantalising defeat to Fiji and a last-minute draw against Canada.
''Again, don't talk to me about possibly reducing the number of sides [in the next World Cup] to 16. Is that how to encourage countries? 'Thanks but we are taking four places away.' Look at us in Japan. We scored probably the best try of the tournament, and were part of two of the best finishes in the event. We have contributed so much. And so have all the other second-tier nations. What a way to reward some of them, by kissing them goodbye.
''And we were 10 minutes away from putting Wales under severe pressure, but we let them off the hook because our guys weren't used to that level of competition. So we come back to the same thing. They've got to be playing at the highest possible level all the time."
Which means, in the end, being able to compete with New Zealand. Even though Kirwan has cut his international coaching teeth with Italy and Japan, you suspect that in his heart of hearts he would love to be in Graham Henry's shoes at some point in the future. He speaks fluent Italian, is married to an Italian, and likes nothing more than a bowl of pasta and a glass of Frascati, but being in charge of the All Blacks would surely be an irresistible lure, and Kirwan is convinced they'll be world champions in three Saturdays' time.
''For one simple reason. Because two years ago, they made the decision to create 35 Test players, and didn't care about the repercussions for everybody else. When Tana Umaga got injured in the last World Cup, we had nobody else to fill his shoes. That made us more determined never to have a repeat of that situation. So now if Dan Carter is out, we have somebody else. If Joe Rokocoko is out, we have somebody else. No one has tested the All Blacks yet, which might be a bit of a concern, but what it boils down to is everyone else is two years behind in their planning."
Kirwan has grand plans. For Japan initially, because he desperately wants a World Cup in the land of the rising sun before the chance of expansion in the Far East sets on rugby union and shines on another rival attraction. And for the game as a whole, which is why earlier this week he demanded – and got – a meeting with the International Rugby Board to set out his vision. You would love to have been a fly on the wall at that gathering. Not too much looking at hemlines, of that you can be sure.
''Maybe this all needs to be done in partnership with Rupert Murdoch. You can't tell me he wouldn't love the United States and China as major players on the world stage. But please let's get on with it. Let's all agree what we need to do to go forward with one clear stated ambition. What's holding people back? I just don't get it."
By Brendan Gallagher
Last Updated: 12:52am BST 05/10/2007
Few would deny that there is a revolution going on in Argentina's rugby as they attempt to overthrow the existing world order, but it might come as a surprise to some to discover that the most celebrated revolutionary of all was a diehard rugby enthusiast and player in Buenos Aries, and indeed one of the first rugby journalists in the country.
The spirit of Che Guevara clearly lives on. Indeed Argentina's captain, Agustin Pichot, who was born in the same Buenos Aires suburb as Guevara, often invokes the revolutionary's spirit and resourcefulness against the odds when talking about the Pumas and their struggle. Pichot, who will lead Argentina in their World Cup quarter-final against Scotland on Sunday, said: "I see a direct link between his love of rugby and our love of rugby and his desire to see change and our desire to see change," Pichot says.
Rugby revolutionary: the young Che Guevara
"Of course his crusade involved overturning corrupt government, changing society and fights to the death – ours is simply to prove we are worthy rugby players who deserve to be treated equally. He was an Argentinian rugby man through and through and we are proud to number him among our predecessors. I like to think he would enjoy the strides we have made."
Ernesto Guevara de la Serna Lynch could claim an Irish great-great grandfather and indeed a Basque great-great grandmother, so his propensity for fighting guerilla wars and play rugby was probably genetic.
Born a chronic asthmatic in Buenos Aires, his father sent him up to Cordoba for the clear air and crisp climate and it was there at the age of 14, in 1942, that he was badly bitten by the rugby bug, playing with Estudiantes de Cordoba. His father, also Ernesto, was alarmed and pleaded with him to give up but his single-minded son famously replied: "I love rugby. Even if it kills me one day I am happy to play it." There were no more arguments after that.
Essentially a tough inside centre in the manner of Felipe Contepomi, he was happy to play anywhere in the back division but had to box clever, as he did for much of his life. Every 20 minutes or so he would slip off and use one of the primitive inhalers of the time, or inject himself. He also undertook a series of exercises which allowed him to catch his breath. Half-time would be the same.
He also, unusually for a back in those days, wore a scrum-cap for which he took, and probably deserved, much stick from his colleagues. Already noted for his carefully cultivated bohemian manner, Che Guevara did not want his matinee idol looks ruined as he was already proving a major hit with the ladies. Even guerilla fighters have their vanities.
After secondary school came the move back to Buenos Aires, where he studied at university to become a doctor – a nice link with the recently graduated Dr Contepomi – and really started to cut his rugby teeth playing for no fewer than three clubs: Atalaya Polo Club, Ypora and San Isidro, or SIC as they are commonly known.
His passion for the game knew few bounds – ironically it was the sport of the elite middle class he eventually despised – and although busy studying medicine and playing rugby he also founded a rugby magazine, called Tackle. He wrote the entire contents under either his own name or a cod name, Chang-Cho, which is apparently a play on one of his nicknames, the Pig. The weekly magazine ran for just three months between May and July 1951 and today rare copies that come on to the market command a king's ransom.
Later in 1951 Guevara set off to discover the world – a world he ended up wanting to change – with his rugby mate and fellow medic Alberto Granado on a 1939 Norton 500cc motorcycle they named La Poderosa II. Two young buckos on a boisterous road trip around South America – their adventures spawned a best-selling book and a critically acclaimed Hollywood film in 2004.
Curiously the rugby link remains. Granado, an eminent biochemist and more than useful scrum-half for many years, is patron of the Cuban Rugby Union, which was created in 1996. Now 81 and having lived in Cuba for 46 years, Granado recalls Che Guevara the rugby player fondly. "I met Ernesto through my brother, Thomas," he said. "Then he was a sickly 14-year-old who wanted to practise rugby. The other teams didn't want him because they were afraid of playing with an asthmatic.
"Despite his scrawny figure, he was surprisingly strong. Because of his strength and also because we thought that a sport was the best remedy for asthma, we accepted him in our team. He had an excellent tackling game, at the height of his elbows. He was a massive rugby enthusiast. His father said that Ernesto always remembered all he had learned about team spirit, discipline and respect for the adversary.
"For us, it was the challenge, the competition that counted. I remember once in Buenos Aires Ernesto received the flying visit of the police because he was accused of spreading communist propaganda in an article he wrote for Tackle that made some comments about the class differences existing in the practice of Argentine rugby.
"We decided to motorbike around South America to experience direct contact with the reality of the illness because we had planned to study leprosy. The expedition was interrupted because we met Fidel Castro in Mexico. That day changed history."
There is one last tantalising rugby memory of Che Guevara and a little known night 'on the lash' in Limerick, Ireland's rugby capital. Guevara had been on a Bristol Britannia aircraft of the Cuban national airline which developed engine trouble en route from Prague to Havana and diverted to Shannon airport on the evening of March 13, 1965. Guevara expressed a wish to see Limerick's night life, and so started a long evening of Guinness, rugby talk with the local heroes and flirting with the local beauties at Hanratty's hotel in Glenworth Street – known to all and sundry as the Gluepot – which was then the happening spot.
"He was three sheets to the wind when he got back to the airport," recalls the celebrated journalist Arthur Quinlan, who accompanied Guevara during much of the session. "So you can take it that he enjoyed himself in Limerick."
By all accounts then, a genuine rugby man and as the Pumas plan and plot to complete their rugby revolution, not the worst role model.
Talk of reducing the World Cup to 16 teams must surly be killed off after the great performances from the 'minnows'. Fiji and Argentina changing the world order, as well as outstanding rugby from georgia, USA, Canada, Japan and Poutugal etc must finally put an end to the IRB 's selfishness against the ermerging nations. What is now needed from the big 8 and IRB is not just money handouts but to get them involved in meaningful competition. They need to be playing the big boys between world cups, not just once every 4 years to simply fill up the numbers. The 6 nations and Tri series are well over due an expansion.
(see Time to let the 'minnows' play ball!!!!!
As far as Wales are concerned, they should be thanking Fiji for knocking them out. It means Wales will now be forced to take a look at their structure from top to bottom (although the whole of Europe needs a complete overhaul with a Euro League replacing the English, Celtic, French, Italian leagues with less game but of higher quality and also getting franchises from the other European nations like Georgia, russia, Romania etc) and get a half decent coach. It's crazy that a team of such talented players, playing in the easiest pool, with 2 home games can not make the knockout stages. Only two years ago they were grand slam champs and potential world cup winners. Wales will b back sooner rather than later, although will the WRU have the guts to finally sort themselves out? They couldn't run a corner shop!
EXCLUSIVE By GREG FORD - Fairfax Media | Tuesday, 2 October 2007
Next year's Super 14 is set to be tipped on its head - again. A revolutionary plan is being hatched to fast-track international experimental laws in time to start for next year's competition.
All the game's top power brokers are in France for the Rugby World Cup.
And Fairfax Media has been told by an impeccable source the pioneering move is set to be rubber-stamped as soon as next week.
The plan will unfold like this.
At meeting in Paris next week the International Rugby Board will formally ask its Sanzar members to trial the law changes.
Sanzar will release a statement soon after endorsing the idea, and officially sign off on it a couple of days later.
But that's all window dressing.
Behind-closed-doors negotiations between the top powerbrokers in the game have been underway for some time.
Sanzar is enthusiastic about the idea and ready to sign off on the bold step to introduce the law changes next February.
The "Experimental Law Variations" have been trailed in several countries but as yet not by elite players.
They are comprehensive and radical.
They include moving the offside line five metres back behind the hindmost feet at scrum time and a complete overhaul of the trouble-riddled breakdown.
Players can use their hands in the ruck and if teams fail to recycle the ball a free kick is immediately awarded to the opposition.
Turnovers are more prevalent.
Anaerobic fitness levels of players are pushed to the extreme.
But the net result is a high paced game, more tries and a more satisfying product for television viewers.
This is why Sanzar is thought to be so enthusiastically endorsing the idea.
Rugby's complex laws have alienated much of its fans base. Ratings for Super 14 matches and tests have been falling. So something had to be done.
But the move does have a high degree of risk.
The rules won't be adopted by the rest of the rugby world, if at all, until the IRB votes on them in April next year.
If they are a flop, or it becomes politically unpalatable to endorse them, then the Sanzar nations will have to revert back to today's rules after the Super 14 ends.
Much will depend on how the changes rate on TV.
If they prove a hit in such in places like New Zealand then it may persuade more conservative forces in the northern hemisphere to make the leap.
It will also have wide ranging ramifications for each franchise coach in the competition. The new laws suit mobile players with high fitness levels.
One school of thought says because some matches have as few as half a dozen scrums props are on the endangered species list.
It could even impact on the selection of the new All Blacks coach next year. Robbie Deans has been at the forefront of New Zealand's input into the new laws.
And that might just give him the edge over any rivals for the job.
If the laws are adopted in April then it will give the southern hemisphere teams a jump on the rest of the rugby world and inject some much need interest in the Tri-Nations later that year.
via Rugby Heaven
Andy Bull
The Guardian
September 25, 2007 1:56 PM
The 30th game of the World Cup will be one of the least hyped and little viewed. In Toulouse tonight Romania play Portugal, with both sides seeking a first, and probably final, win to mark their participation. There will be little coverage in the English papers tomorrow, and perhaps just a line or two on the evening news.
Rugby union lives in a near-perpetual state of concern about whether or not it really is an international sport - say in comparison to football or athletics. The extent of its globalisation must be measured by more than just how well the smaller sides perform against the home and Tri-nations. Globalisation depends also on our awareness, appreciation and understanding of the cultures that have embraced the game. It depends also on not allowing the smaller teams to just slip through the cracks for another four years.
The mutual enjoyment of sport bridges the divides created by languages and cultures. The familiarity the game creates between the otherwise unfamiliar is one of the most important and enjoyable things about the World Cup. Portugal will never beat New Zealand, but if they demonstrate, and we appreciate, their own passion for the game, then the game becomes more universal.
For much of the 20th century, Romania were the sixth team in Europe rather than Italy. If the game there is especially unknown to British fans, it is because, like Portugal, it has grown under French influence.
English fans may think back to 2001 and the 134-0 defeat of the Romanians that, for us, was simply another marker of the team's inexorable process towards becoming world champions. For Romania, that was the nadir of a terrible era in their rugby history, a low-water mark indicative of the disintegrating popularity, funding and structure of the game there.
Contrary to what we may blithely think, that history is a long and glorious one. Rugby has been played in Romania since the very early years of the last century, when students who had moved to Paris to study returned to Bucharest, bringing with them a set of balls and a copy of the rules for the game they had played in between their studies.
France, for so long excluded from the IRB, nurtured the sport there in an effort to boost their own sphere of influence and create a rival power-base to that of the home nations. By 1914 the Romanian rugby championship was being contested, and it has run almost uninterrupted ever since. In 1919 the national team played their first match, against France in Paris.
Skip forward to 1960, and Romanian rugby was beginning to flourish. They beat France 11-5 in Bucharest, and over the next four years won one rematch 3-0, and drew two more. In 1964 Grivita Rosie become European club champions by beating Mont-de-Marsanin, reigning champions of France, 10-0.
The following year Dinamo Bucharest won the same title, and at the same time Nicolae Ceausescu became first secretary of the Romanian Workers Party. He would become head of state two years later. Romania, communist since the Soviet occupation of 1947, had increasingly been establishing its autonomy from Soviet rule at the same time as its rugby team had been enjoying such success.
The two were to become inextricably linked. Under Ceausescu sport became a vital source of propaganda. For the population, almost completely cut off from the rest of the world due to its increasing isolationism, sport was one means of global interaction, of demonstrating Romanian culture, and as Ceausescu would have it, strength and prosperity, to the outside world.
Gymnastics benefited, football benefited, and so did rugby. Ceausescu poured resources into his national teams. It is almost forgotten now, but in the 1970s and 1980s Romania were one of the best teams in the world.
In 1974 they beat France 15-10, and in 1980 they beat them 15-0 and then held Ireland to a 13-13 draw in Dublin. In 1984 they beat Scotland 28-22. On and on it goes: in 1988, Wales were defeated 15-9 in Cardiff, and in 1990 France went down again, this time 12-6. Throughout that period, Romania beat Italy in 12 of the 20 games they contested.
In the mid-80s, Romania really were one of the best teams in the world, and on the verge of joining the Five Nations. And then the revolution happened. Six of the national team lost their lives in the fight to overthrow Ceausescu. Some of them died because their day jobs were with the army or the police; others, such as the legendary flanker Florica Murariu, were simply victims of the turmoil and confusion of the time. Murariu was shot dead at a roadblock, believed to have been mistaken for a terrorist by a pair of trigger-happy soldiers.
The revolution triggered a rapid decline in Romanian rugby. Shorn of state support, mourning some its leading players and increasingly irrelevant to the new society forming itself, rugby union went backwards. A win against Fiji in the 1991 World Cup marked perhaps the final occasion when the world really took notice of their team.
Professionalism exacerbated the problem, as there was an exodus of players to France. Currently there are 326 Romanians playing at various levels of the French league system. The domestic game, virtually spectatorless and penniless, was crumbling. Included in the first ever Heineken Cup, Farul Constantal lost to Toulouse, and no Romanian team has participated since, though Romania A do play in the Challenge Cup.
"With the revolution children discovered new opportunities," said the team spokesman Radu Constantin. "Nightlife and discos, TV and computer games. Sport, and rugby especially, became less popular as an activity".
When I ask him whether Muriaru is a hero in Romania, he says no: "because football is the king. The man in the street in Bucharest could not tell you who captains our rugby team. Floricau was another man who died in the revolution, he just happened to be a rugby player".
At the time of the loss to England in 2001, the national team had no sponsors and the federation was unable to pay the players. Of late there has been something of a stirring, prompted by that humiliating defeat. Only 15 years previously Romania had lost at Twickenham by just 22-15. The national administration was changed, with some financial help from France, and new sponsors were found.
"For the national team," Constantin continued, "things are improving. We now have nine national teams, across all age groups and sexes, whereas before we only had two. We have an academy too, the only one in eastern Europe. But for the clubs, things are not so good".
This year, Arad, who provided three players for the national team and finished second in the Romanian Championship in 2006, went bust and were shut down. Currently, the game is not a viable business. So while the likes of Argentina and Italy have been welcomed into the top rank of rugby union, Romania have all but disappeared from it. It seems unbelievable given their long and passionate history of playing the game, and the astonishing results they produced in the 1970s and 1980s.
Behind that short paragraph in tomorrow's papers, that 30-second sound-bite on the radio, lies one of rugby union's more remarkable and rare stories. A minor team that took on and beat the established sides, then collapsed and almost vanished from view. If rugby union is serious about becoming a global sport, it will acknowledge Romania's achievements, and help do everything it can to ensure they don't just become a distant and obscure chapter in the game's history.
This world cup has been brilliant for the 'minnows'. It's about time the IRB and Big 8 Nations let them take part in world rugby more than just letting them make up the numbers once every 4 years.
Georgia, Namibia, Romania, USA, Canada, Samoa, Portugal etc have all done brilliantly well and it was such a shame Georgia didn't beat Ireland. How good would that have been.
It's time to expand the tri nations and 6 nations. Currently there is a 6 nations b tournament for teams like Georgia, Romania, Portugal, Russia etc compete in but that's as far as they are allowed to go. Why not expand the 6 Nations to 8 Nations and have a playoff every year between the last placed team in the 8 Nations and the Top team in the 8 Nations b. While we are at it get the USA and Canada involved. They are northern hemisphere nations after all. Maybe have Georgia and Canada in the 8 Nations A and add USA to 8 Nations B. The USA and Canada are about to set up a north American professional league anyway. Having them in the 6 nations set up would increase the profile of rugby there and help turn them into true professionals. They would also bring some great fans to the event. I was at the Canada v Fiji game today in Cardiff and it was full of Canadian rugby fans. They love it!
Argentina have to play in the Tri Nations. It looks like they will reach the 1/2 finals of the Rugby World Cup and from there who knows. It's a crime they have not been asked to join already and I don't think SANZAR will every let them or anyone else as they want all the money for themselves. Samoa, Fiji, Tonga and Japan must also be involved in the Tri Nations and Super 14 as well.
In Europe we need to set up a European League to replace the Guinness Premiership, Celtic League, French Top 14, Italian Super 10 and Heineken Cup with all the clubs split into different conferences (like American Footballs NFL) Less games but of Higher quality (just look how poor the 6 Nations have been in this World Cup and it's easy to see our domestic Leagues are not helping us) Also allow Georgia, Romania, Portugal, Russia etc to enter 1 professional franchise each into the Euro League.
Come on IRB and Big 8. Have the guts and give international rugby a kick up the backside!
comment by RuckAndRollRugby on BBC 606 - Add your comment
Not many people will know that Portugal in fact did manage to beat New Zealand on Saturday, but only in an impromptu soccer match between the sides after the rugby was done and dusted.
Byron Kelleher, Richie McCaw and Dan Carter had all been rested for the Pool C clash, but were among those who challenged the Portuguese to a game of soccer after the final whistle had blown at Stade Gerland.
Despite Carter starting up front, with McCaw in midfield and Kelleher in the back four it was Portugal who emerged 2-1 victors, a result which will go some way to avenging the 108-13 score in the rugby.
It is not unusual for reserves and non-playing members of the squad to take part in fitness after a game. So throw in a football, and there was a great recipe for a light-hearted moment that just shows how powerful sport can be.
Portugal swarmed all over the All Blacks and dominated for the most, with Pedro Cabral showing some fancy footwork, and McCaw, for once, was left in his tracks by the skilful Portuguese. The All Blacks did have one secret weapon however, Sitiveni Sivivatu, although he could not do enough to save the game!
via Planet Rugby
Emily Bell
Monday September 10, 2007
The Guardian
In the recent Six Nations series of rugby matches, television audiences for the sport reached higher levels than in the previous years, and the sponsors and broadcasters were delighted by the audience engagement in the sport. The average audience per match was 4.3 million and the peak was 5.9 million.
By the standards of football these are tiny figures - even for the annual tournament which attracts most attention. To put it in context, in the same week, Plymouth versus Watford in the FA Cup had an audience of 5.1 million. The point is that rugby union, while a gripping sport for its dedicated followers, still has relatively limited televisual appeal.
If you are battling against the might of football to popularise your sport, then one would have thought that you would be pleased, grateful even, for any coverage which spreads the reach of rugby.
What then, lay behind the International Rugby Board's (IRB) extraordinary dance with the international media ahead of the World Cup which England almost certainly won't retain, and none of the other home nations are likely to win? A heavy restriction on the number of images allowed to be filed per match or the time delay imposed on television footage from matches on non-match days seemed on the face of it absurd. The pressure point for the IRB seemed to be the fear that broadcasters who have paid for the rights, like ITV, are anxious that multimedia packages from other organisations could undermine their coverage of this event.
I suppose that it is possible that rugby fans could foil plans to make them watch matches on television by printing out the stream of stills from a website match report and stringing them together in a flicker-book to replicate the live action. Otherwise it is difficult to imagine how the proliferation of images would dent the value of television rights. In fact, quite the opposite. Anyone who has studied sports audiences will know that the core fans fetishise the coverage to the point where they will consume all they can from as many sources as possible.
In general television marketing departments sweat over how to increase coverage outside their schedule for any programme, and now, when the internet facilitates this for nothing, there was the bizarre sight of a minority sport prompting a blackout on the eve of its seven-week event.
Whatever the holes in the logic of the IRB and its broadcast partners, it is not alone in trying to wrestle with the proliferation of quasi-live coverage through web services. Earlier this year the IWC (cricket's equivalent of the IRB) adopted the same approach to the world's media before, like the IRB, coming to a deal. The IRB is within its rights to sell whichever rights it wishes or indeed to restrict coverage as it chooses. However much we might feel that we have ownership of international sporting events, this is not the case - they are private paid-for events which are run for profit. But the trend which says that there is only one model for monetising events, and that is to put as tight a set of restrictions around rights as possible, cannot hold in the modern world. The idea that reporters should sign restrictive covenants when entering grounds, or that agencies can only supply a couple of dozens of images, is laughable when the means of digital reproduction are so instant and so universal.
Instead of obsessing over how to effectively destroy the coverage of an already fairly tedious event, the IRB and other sporting authorities would do better to think about how much free marketing their sports receive from fan sites, club sites, YouTube and other websites. Maybe it is just the combination of those most unreconstructed of organisations, traditional broadcasters and sports governing bodies, which could, uniquely, produce such an absurd outcome.
With memories of 1998 bubbling back to the surface, many in France see the Rugby World Cup as a chance to boost the nation's morale, writes Angelique Chrisafis
Friday September 7, 2007
Guardian Unlimited
From politicians to fashion designers, France can't get enough "oval mania". More than a sporting event, the Rugby World Cup has been presented by the government and French big business as a highly-charged national celebration, a chance to shape the psyche of Nicolas Sarkozy's France. It is, commentators say, an exercise in pride that will boost morale, stop everyone whingeing about the sclerotic economy and unite the nation in awe at its charismatic sporting stars. Most of all, it is a chance to let off all the pent-up energy that would have been expended on the 2012 Olympics if Paris hadn't lost the bid.
"Forty-four days to conquer the world," announced Le Figaro this morning. Le Parisien seized on the event's potential to spread a wave of optimism, with 70% of French people confident the home team will win. Metaphors with France's 1998 football World Cup win abound. Even though the then president Jacques Chirac didn't know the names of half the '98 team, he donned a football scarf and led the celebrations - the win boosted his poll ratings and kept them high for a full year afterwards. Nicolas Sarkozy, much more of a sporting man, knows the potential for a mood of national rejoicing if France win their first match and go on to do well. When France play Argentina tonight, he'll be cheering them on. And Chirac, perhaps now seeing himself as a good luck charm, will turn up too. The Eiffel Tower's "Rugby Town" - 21 huge screens at the foot of Paris's trademark monument -- is preparing to host 10,000 fans a day who just want to soak up the atmosphere. But the World Cup is also a chance for the highly centralised republic to cede power to the provinces, namely the south-west rugby spirit. Even when the game is played in Paris, rugby chants have a south-west accent, pointed out Libération. Once France and rugby were two bywords for violence and brutishness, said a French rugby historian. Now the sport has been transformed in France as a symbol of glamour. Despite not being selected to start tonight's opening match, the bearded giant Sébastien Chabal continues to awe the nation, described as a symbol of the heroism of the Gauls.
Le Figaro today gave thanks for the rugby, hailing it as a moment to celebrate "virility" in a universe "that is becoming more and more unisex."
Tongan star Epi Taione has taken the bold step of changing his name on the eve of the World Cup - a controversial decision that will benefit his teammates, but has left the International Rugby Board (IRB) fuming.
Taione, who is no stranger to controversy, caused a big stir by changing his name to Paddy Power.
The name change itself would not have been a major problem, had it not been for the fact that it is also the name of an Irish bookmaker.
His name change is part of a five-figure sponsorship agreement with the bookmaker - which funded the cash-strapped Tonga team's preparations for the World Cup tournament.
The versatile Tongan - who can play either centre, wing or No.8 - changed his name by deed poll and will be called Paddy Power throughout the tournament.
The 125kg star saw his career in English rugby come to an end in February 2006, when he was banned for 18 weeks after pleading guilty to biting Munster and Ireland No.8 Denis Leamy in Sale's Heineken Cup loss to the Irish province. Having previously played for Tynedale and the Newcastle Falcons, he joined Japanese club side Sanyo Wild Knights.
The 28-year-old has set his sights on trying to fulfil a lifetime ambition of scoring a try against world champions England.
Tonga will play Brian Ashton's side in their final pool game on September 28, and Paddy Power (the bookmaker) have set odds of 7-1 on their namesake delivering what could prove an awkward moment for commentators unsure whether or not to subscribe to the marketing masterstroke.
Bookmaker Paddy Power admitted it was a dream come true to see his name feature at the Rugby World Cup.
"I was never good enough to play rugby in a World Cup and figured this was as close as I was going to get," he told the Sunday Star Times of New Zealand.
Taione is hoping his name change will bring a change of fortune for his country whose campaign kicks off against the USA in Montpellier on September 12.
"It's a great fun idea, I was happy to help when I was asked. I hope some of the luck of the Irish rubs off on us."
Taione's agent Nick Taylor of Phoenix Management admitted the opportunity to help the Tongans was too good to turn down.
"We are really appreciative of Paddy Power's efforts in help to supporting an emerging nation like Tonga," he said.
Via Planet Rugby
ITV doesn't care about rugby! Once every four years they buy the rights to the Rugby World Cup and the IRB are stupid enough to give them the coverage. ITV then go on to put a lot of the games on ITV2, 3 and 4.
"Someone said to me: 'What's ITV4?' I said I have been saying that for 10 years." Frank Skinner
We have to put up with rubbish commentary and presenters who's only knowledge of rugby is Jonny Wilkinson. Once again for the 2007 tournament we will have to put up with Jim Rosenthal (who looks like 'The Count' from Sesame Street) heading up the coverage.
The signs for this years coverage from ITV have so far not been good. They have only now, with two weeks to go, started rolling TV adverts telling people a world cup is about to kick off. The advert itself is a bit cheesy too.
Here's how GoodKick on BBC Wales Scrum V message board puts it
"I can't wait! Typical programme will include
Smug smiling Rosenthal (The Count) intro
Adverts
10 minute Johnny Wilkinson interview (doesn't matter which game is on)
Adverts
The Count gushing about Johnny
Adverts
The teams, The anthems
Adverts
The 1st half
Adverts
The 2nd half
Adverts
Replay of the trys
Adverts
10 preview of Englands next game
Adverts
The Count bidding us farewell whilst gushing about Johnny
Can't wait ....."
If you have spent forever and a day looking around for the actual TV schedule look no further. Thanks to www.rugbytvschedule.co.uk we can reveal all the games that will be shown on ITV1. The rest will be on ITV2, 3 or 4. Of the home nations only England have all of their games on the terrestrial channel. Typical ITV.
Rugby World Cup on itv 1
Date Home Away Pool Time Channel
07/09/07 France v Argentina D 20.00 ITV 1
08/09/07 New Zealand v Italy C 12.45 ITV 1
08/09/07 Australia v Japan B 14.45 ITV 1
08/09/07 England v USA A 17.00 ITV 1
09/09/07 South Africa v Samoa A 15.00 ITV 1
14/09/07 England v South Africa A 20.00 ITV 1
15/09/07 New Zealand v Portugal C 12.00 ITV 1
15/09/07 Wales v Australia B 14.00 ITV 1
21/09/07 France v Ireland D 20.00 ITV 1
22/09/07 South Africa vTonga A 13.00 ITV 1
22/09/07 England v Samoa A 15.00 ITV 1
23/09/07 Australia v Fiji B 13.30 ITV 1
23/09/07 Scotland v New Zealand C 16.00 ITV 1
28/09/07 England v Tonga A 20.00 ITV 1
29/09/07 New Zealand v Romania C 12.00 ITV 1
29/09/07 Australia v Canada B 14.00 ITV 1
29/09/07 Wales v Fiji B 16.00 ITV 1
30/09/07 France v Georgia D 14.00 ITV 1
30/09/07 Ireland v Argentina D 16.00 ITV 1
6/10/07 Win Pool B RU Pool A Quarter-final 14.00 ITV 1
6/10/07 Win Pool C RU Pool D Quarter-final 20.00 ITV 1
7/10/07 Win Pool A RU Pool B Quarter-final 14.00 ITV 1
7/10/07 W Pool D RU Pool C Quarter-final 20.00 ITV 1
13/10/07 W QF1 W QF2 Semi-final 20.00 ITV 1
14/10/07 Q QF3 W QF4 Semi-final 20.00 ITV 1
20/10/07 The Final Final 20.00 ITV 1
There is no question as to which is the toughest pool - Pool D with France, Argentina, Ireland along with poor old Namibia and Georgia.
You might argue that Scotland's group, with New Zealand and Italy in the mix might pose problems for Frank Hadden's men. And so it will. England, too, have to negotiate their way past Samoa as well as South Africa if they are to top their pool.
But nothing compares to Pool D. And thank goodness for that. It is a real brute of a group. There will be too many mismatches at this World Cup, games in which one side has no hope of saving face let alone winning the match, games which, quite frankly, should have no place in a World Cup tournament.
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New Zealand against Portugal? Please, what is that all about, apart from global embarrassment. What about Namibia against any of the three top dogs named above. The Africans have just shipped over a century of points to the Springboks. So, fingers over eyes for those matches.
Back to the topic in question. Pool D is a fantastically difficult group, full of menace and intrigue and endless possibilities. What an opener. France against Argentina at the Stade de France. What if the home side should slip up? Would that be a hugely dramatic moment, a France-Senegal footballesque scene and just the sort of shock result that the tournament needs to bring it to the attention of a wider audience, or would it be a deflating disaster for the host country?
I don't think it would be either. And that shows you just how tricky that group is going to be. Argentina have recently beaten France four times in succession, including a victory in Marseille. They are no Senegal. They meet France on more-or-less equal terms.
I say more-or-less because France have significant advantages over los Pumas. As do Ireland. Both countries play in an established tournament. Both countries have their players close to hand, if not even at their beck and call as Ireland do. Argentina have to make do and mend, like a tribe of wandering travellers making the best of what they've got when they've got it.
It remains a disgrace that the IRB have not been able to bring enough pressure on either SANZAR or the Six Nations to persuade them to admit Argentina to either of the prime competitions in those hemispheres.
Argentina, then, have everything to do if they are to make it through to the quarter-final. Given the differing levels of preparation and access to players, France and Ireland should prevail. But I, for one, won't be betting on it.
Via Telegraph.co.uk
Posted by bobdabuilda27 27 August 2007 BBC 606 Rugby
Can anyone rationally explain the sense behind GJ's gameplan yesterday?
Even more worrying is the fact that Alfie 'Ruddock Slayer' Thomas was finally stretchered off, after leaving the pitch twice during the game, with supposedly 'minor' head injuries which left him with blurred vision... I don't know what Prof Williams the team doc was thinking when he heard that little pearler (I am a Dr btw and alarm bells should have been ringing) but he clearly didn't have enough influence to stop Alfonso from returning to the game when the potential implications could be(and could yet still be)huge. Only time will tell but I do not believe it was merely 'exhaustion' as GJ says in his profoundly moronic way.
To be honest I think the whole of the medical staff were asleep during the game as Kevin Morgan was yelling for at least 5mins to come off with his knee injury...or was this another 'game plan' of GJ?
Is it a case of poor medical decisions pitchside or GJ's overwhelming schoolteacher ego that prevents any crucial game saving decisions being made after the whistle has gone for kick off? Is he really THAT one dimensional?
There is one possible advantage to Alfie being out and that is to force the hand of GJ to bring in Gavin Henson who at least is a natural centre and IS FIT. Sonny Parker and Robinson don't shine at all in my eyes and along with Michael Owen don't deserve their squad places. As for the Stephen Jones question, by all means keep him in the squad but he aint first choice at 10 as that is Hooks position now.
After yesterdays performance I think we will struggle to come out of the group stages unless some serious miracle happens.
Now it's not just the Wales coach who seems to be losing his mind. Kevin Morgan is at it as well.
He predicted it will be the most open showpiece in the 20-year history of the tournament and insisted Wales had the capability to become only the second northern hemisphere nation – England are reigning champions – to lift the Webb Ellis Trophy.
“The top five or six sides can beat anybody on their day and I would put us among them,” beamed the 30-year-old maintained.
And Morgan stressed, “I believe that. Even though New Zealand have been the form side, everyone has come back at them.
“Australia and South Africa are looking good, France are the hosts, Scotland have improved and are playing really well, while we all know what Ireland can do. It is the same with us because it is all about on the day in cup competitions.
“The World Cup is going to be a totally different matter to what has gone before. I fully expect Australia and South Africa to be on their game.
“I am sure, this time around, there will be at least four of five sides capable of winning the World Cup. It is going to be a more open tournament.”
“Most countries who host the World Cup tend to do well: New Zealand and South Africa (1995) won it, while England (1991) and Australia (2003) reached the final,” said Morgan.
“With it being in France this year it probably gives them an extra boost as well. If they are not the favourites, they are the second favourites.”
The fact Wales have the crucial group game against Australia fills Morgan with confidence.
“I think it will give us a big advantage. The ground is familiar to us, we are on our home patch and will have the majority of the crowd behind us.
“But,” Morgan warned, “we have still got to turn up and play well on the day."
Just over 30,000 witnessed Gareth Jenkins' Wales take on the might of Argentina on Saturday. the Welsh public seem to be losing faith with Jenkins.
A crowd of just over 73,000 turned up to watch the visit of Fiji two years ago, while 56,380 watched Japan the year before. So a crowd of 30,000 for a side rated as fifth favourites for the 2007 World Cup tells its own story.
On the day Argentina looked like a team that was playing it's first game together for the first time in a long time during the first half and gifted Wales many of their points. It was only in the second half that we got to see more of the real Argentina, who in the end had more of the overall possession and territory and only a video ref decision prevented them from winning a a game Wales should have won at half time. With less than three minutes remaining the Pumas forced Wales back onto their own line as Todeschini fired a brilliant penalty into touch just five metres out.Wales hooker Matthew Rees was sin-binned for deliberate off-side as Wales threw bodies in the way in a desperate attempt to keep Argentina out. At the third time of asking, Durand was driven over the line but Duncan Jones caused him to spill the ball, and Wales let out a collective sigh of relief as referee Chris White called for no-time. It should have been a penalty try. Bad call by the TMO. Argentina will be much better come September.
Wales had a much improved performance, but still looked poor overall. The first half was OK, but come the second half it was the same old story. They couldn't get the ball and when they did they kicked it away poorly. The line-out is still a mess, but the scrum was much improved against one of the worlds best packs. Wales still look like a team of individuals who are not sure of the game plan they are supposed to be playing.
People are talking about Australia being the crunch game for Wales in their pool, but I would say Fiji is the game they should be worrying more about. Fiji must be fancying their chances of knocking out the Welsh just as Samoa will be fancying their chances against England after seeing them in action over the last two weekends against the French.
England seem to have the opposite problem that Wales have. Whereas Wales have a back-line that can coach itself but forwards who can't win them any ball to use, England win an embarrassing amount of possession with their forwards, but their backs don't know what to do with it. But come the World Cup I still feel England can go far, especially with Mike Catt outside Jonny Wilkinson at 12. Catt has an all-round game and can help get the England backs moving by giving Wilkinson the support he needs.
France are now slowly but surly looking like Europe's main challenger for the World Cup, and on home soil anything is possible. However, first they will have to get past Argentina and Ireland in the 'group of death'.
Ten years ago rugby fans were given the game Jonah Lomu Rugby. The game had very dodgy graphics but the smooth game play more than made up for it especially when it came to multiplayer mode. The game became a cult classic among rugby fans and still acts as the bench mark for all other rugby games to follow. Since then EA Sports, the Microsoft of sports video games has attempted, but failed, year after year, to became the new Lomu.
EA Sports Rugby 08 is once again a big let down. It's basically a slightly modified version of Rugby 2006, with an official IRB Rugby World Cup 2007 licence. It still feels like you don't have complete control of your players, which was the best thing about Jonah Lomu Rugby. Passing, side-stepping, handing off, drop kicking etc still takes place a split second after you press the button on the controller. You still have no control over rucks and for some reason the computer makes you players do things you haven't told it to, like dive on the ball in the in goal area when you aren't even touching the controller, or tackle a player jumping for the ball, which of course gives away a penalty.
Don't get me wrong the game is still fun to play, especially on multi player mode and they have improved things like the new advanced line-out mode which really does feel very realistic (especially when you play as Wales and your hooker continually throws the ball too far for your jumper. Wow they really got that one right!) The problem is despite the great graphics, official teams, players and tournaments and great looking stadiums, EA Sports have still failed to make it feel like you have complete control of what you are doing. You feel as if you are constantly fighting against the computer (and I don't mean the other team) to make it do what you want it to do.
For all rugby fans this game is a must. But for me Jonah Lomu Rugby is still King of rugby video games.
Ruck and Roll Rugby gives EA Sports rugby 08 6 out of 10.
WALES v ARGENTINA Millennium Stadium (14:30) Ruck and Roll Rugby prediction - Argentina to win by 10
FRANCE v ENGLAND Stade de France (20:00) Ruck and Roll Rugby prediction - England to win by 3
ITALY v JAPAN Stadio Perruca in Aosta Ruck and Roll Rugby prediction - Italy to win by 20
CANADA v PORTUGAL Twin Elm Park in Nepean ) Ruck and Roll Rugby prediction - Canada to win by 15
Once again Argentina have been let down by SANZAR, The Big 8 and the IRB. Reports this week suggest Argentina will not be given the chance to take part in the Tri Nations until at least 2010 . The Argentinean Rugby Union (UAR) have been attempting to join rugby's elite in either the Tri-Nations or Six Nations tournament. But according to visiting IRB representative Morgan Buckley it seems as if progress will be stalled for at least three years.
"It's very difficult to talk about a date, but I think that until 2010 there won't be any changes in the competitions," he explained, speaking to minutouno.com.
So why are the Pumas denied the chance to take on the best in the world on a regular basis. Over the last few years they have beaten the likes of England, France, Ireland, Scotland, Italy, Wales and have come close to beating The All Blacks, Wallabies and Springboks .
Buckley is concerned that the amount of international fixtures and the structure off-the-field is restricting Argentina's progress.
"The idea is that every professional squad play between twenty to thirty games each season," he added.
"That isn't happening with Argentina, who play only six or seven.
"I came to help the Argentinean Rugby Union to find different ways to finance in case they will finally enter an international cup.
"The Pumas are professional, but they have their base in Europe.
"The UAR must demonstrate that, besides the team, there are structures, measures and directives to be part of a top-tournament."
Surly the best thing that could be done is to allow Argentina into the Tri Nations but at the same time give them a Super 14 Franchise based in Buenos Aires to allow them to bring many of their European Based players home. Even with their best players playing in Europe a way could surly be found to allow them to play in the Tri Nations. By the sounds of it the UAR are worse than the Welsh Rugby Union at running the game but still the Pumas perform on the field. I really hope Argentina can beat France and Ireland in the Rugby World Cup next month. I have a funny feeling this is going to be their year.And while we are talking about Argentina playing in the Tri Nations, what about the Pacific Islands?