ON RUGBY:Arguably the most important people in this are not the coaches and players, but the referees and their assessors, writes GERRY THORNLEY
A PREDICTABLY demoralising weekend in the south then for Ireland and their fellow travellers from the north, and, of course, this being New Zealand, there’s no escaping it. You embark on the three-and-a-half hour drive inland to Rotorua from New Plymouth, where most of the inhabitants are still having a Sunday morning lie-in after the big night before, filling up with petrol as you leave town.
The man and woman behind the counter are revisiting Saturday night’s 66-28 win for the All Blacks when a local customer walks up to them. “Oh, how did it finish?” he asks, chuckling. “I left it at half-time. It got boring.”
The shop assistants agreed wholeheartedly, all having a good laugh.
Living up to its name ‘The Land of the Long White Cloud’, rain teems down for much of the journey, though it doesn’t distract from the beauty of the endless winding roads which zigzag through mountain ranges. Stopping off for a coffee and sitting outside a quiet, remote cafe, as three Kiwis disembark from a car, climb up the steps and before reaching the door one says sarcastically: “Thanks for coming, boys!”
One of his mates apologises for him. “Don’t mind him, he’s mad.” But much of the post-match analysis questions the worth of such a bloodless coup, and the picture is complete when Sunday’s prime time television news bulletin refers to those “plucky Irish”.
Well, when you haven’t lost to someone once in 105 years and 23 meetings, presumably it colours your perception of them.
Likewise though, when the combined might of Ireland, Wales, England and Scotland haven’t won once in 25 attempts since the 2003 World Cup final down south, it’s no wonder this three-week window is generally seen hereabouts as a form of gentle limbering up for the Tri-Nations.
Compounding that is the 42-17 thrashing which the French endured in South Africa, which means the combined might of the Grand Slam champions over the last two seasons conceded 108 points between them. Like Ireland, France had plenty of ball and tried things, but their accuracy and execution wilted in such a high-tempo game.
England were the most competitive against the injury-hit Wallabies, who were missing their entire first-choice frontrow. But had the Australians a scrum – ie were the Bens, Alexander and Robinson, playing – one ventures they’d have won by 20 or 30.
The Southern Hemisphere have redesigned the game to make it more appealing to the floating/television audience. The most striking effect has been to quicken the game up and reward teams who keep the ball in hand. Furthermore, in doing so, they had a head start going into this summer’s eh, global collisions.
The Northern Hemisphere now have to react, and quickly, and arguably the most important people in this are not the coaches and players, but the referees and their assessors. The same interpretations, particularly with regard to the hindmost foot/offside line, have to be enforced just as vigilantly through the domestic leagues, European competitions and Six Nations.
One can see a few problems here, not least in the Magners League and even in the Top 14, where refereeing standards are not of the uniform quality seen amongst the Southern Hemisphere elite for the Super 14 and Tri-Nations.
Furthermore, Super rugby will be extended to 15 teams next season, which guarantees all participants 14 games without the threat of relegation, whereas the Heineken Cup ensures only a minimum of six games and the talent is spread more thinly across six countries.
Even more damaging, though, is the financial muscle of the European club game, and primarily the French clubs. The loss of what Graham Henry calls New Zealand’s “middle management”, ie the experienced players just outside the All Blacks squad, most of whom have been capped, has left Kiwi provincial sides looking particularly callow.
New Zealand and South Africa each export over 600 players abroad to professional or semi-professional rugby, and New Zealand rugby commentators, coaches and administrators fear another flight of Wild Geese proportions after the 2012 World Cup.
As with the English Premiership owners before them, Serge Blanco and co may think their club game is king. But, a la the English Premiership in football, the likes of Toulon’s comic book multi-millionaire Mourad Boudjellal, Racing Club owner Jacky Lorenzetti, who owns France’s biggest estate agency group, Foncia, and Biarritz Olympique’s Serge Kampf, the man behind the Capgemini technology firm who has been ranked among France’s top 10 richest men in the past, and all the other papas sucres, are stifling indigenous talent.
In fact, they are doing so across Europe, for such is the manner in which they have falsely inflated the market place their European rivals are endeavouring to keep pace with them. There’s no other way, such are the demands on modern players and on their teams to remain competitive in the Heineken and Challenge Cups. The Celts have to bring in overseas players. Arguably, they should have more.
The flip side of the Super 14/15 v Heineken Cup, of course, is the latter exposes teams much more to the culture of knock-out rugby. No amount of law changes can reduce the acute psychological pressure that comes with tight games in the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final of a World Cup. Fear of making a mistake invariably makes for tighter, more cautious games at that stage.
For the All Blacks, the baggage of their World Cup history weighs especially heavily. Cue another tight knock-out game, with the pressure to end 24 years of hurt, and who’s to say they won’t implode as they did against France in that unforgettable Cardiff quarter-final three years ago?
The World Cup will also come at a more equitable time for the Northern Hemisphere, whose players will not be travelling south at the end of long seasons. They’ll be fresher and will have had a better run-in. But that was a salutary weekend for the north, and the next two are likely to be as well.
As per usual, Europe has some catching up to do.
