TODAYS HERALD

Rugby development moves on apace but big eight must play fair
When the teams lined up for the 2003 World Cup quarter-finals, it was as if we had moved back in time.

For the first time in the history of the tournament, all eight founder members of the International Rugby Board had reached that stage together. How different it could be once this weekend is over.

It will take little short of a miracle for Ireland to reach the knockout stages. Not so long ago seen, not least by themselves, as trophy contenders, they need four tries against Argentina. Good luck, fellas.

England and Wales have huge South Sea Island challenges to contend with and, if they go into their matches as respective favourites, against Tonga and Fiji, neither match is a foregone conclusion.

As for Scotland, Chris Paterson pointed out this week that, on neutral territory, they are entitled to regard themselves as underdogs against a team who won at Murrayfield earlier this year and are above them in the world rankings.

The Italians may not have looked it against the All Blacks at the beginning of this tournament, but they are a coming force in the global game as eight years of exposure to top-level Test rugby in the Six Nations Championship bears fruit.

It is worth remembering, in that regard, that their inclusion in 2000 was controversial, many argued that they were not ready for it. Five victories and a draw may seem a modest return on eight seasons' investment, yet it places them ahead of France, on their arrival in the championship. By beating Scotland in their first match, Italy were a year ahead of France - yes, they beat the Scots first, too - but their victory did not come until their second campaign in 1911.

After six terms, and following the intervention of a world war, it was not until 1920 that France registered a second win, while their fifth victory came in their ninth tournament.

It takes time for teams to adjust to the levels set by those who have had the advantage of sustained involvement in Test rugby, which only makes the competitiveness of some of the emerging nations at this rugby World Cup all the more remarkable.

For all its critics, the International Rugby Board seems to have done a decent job in its development work, but there is much more to be done. Two priorities are clear.

The first is to somehow force the big eight to play fair when it comes to selection and stop poaching players from lower-ranked countries. At this tournament, the only top-10 team without a single player born in another country is the least well resourced: Argentina.

The nation that needs extra help least, New Zealand, is by a long way the worst offender. If all those they have capped in recent years were representing the South Sea Islands they were born in this weekend, then it would be safe to say that England and Wales would be going home.

The Kiwis hide behind the fact that youngsters in the South Seas aspire to play for the All Blacks. Just because a wee lad with ball skills runs around Easterhouse in a yellow jersey and gets called Ronaldinho by his pals does not make him Brazilian, though.

As for the NZRFU's fabled "development programmes" in the South Seas, it might also be described as a highly sophisticated scouting system, designed to identify promising youngsters for relocation in their early-to- mid-teens.

Scotland, in particular, was tough on itself when the so-called "granny-gate" business broke a decade or so ago. Yet, there is a big difference between players not deemed good enough by the country they come from and those who would be automatic choices for the land of their birth.

Then again, Europe must pick up the tab for the bulk of the work to be done, not least because that is where the majority of the resources are. If the New Zealanders and Australians are guilty of asset- stripping the islands, it is nothing to the behaviour of English and French clubs, such is their spending power.

That is down to commercial interest in the European game which can be tapped into to extend the Six Nations Championship still further.

While geography may suggest the Tri-Nations have the greater responsibility towards disgracefully neglected Argentina, pragmatism has it that their inclusion in the European international tournament is a better way forward. Involve Romania, Georgia and Portugal, too, and watch them thrive. It may mean the existing six nations take a financial hit, but the price will be small if the reward is that the sport's claim to be global is strengthened.

In that regard, the establishment of a professional league in North America is needed for the USA and Canada to take the next step forward, while it is a desperate shame that Japan will not host the 2011 World Cup. That wrong should be righted in 2015, which will provide further stimulus to rugby in the Far East, which already hosts the globally famous Hong Kong Sevens.

With the Antipodes, Africa, South America and Europe already providing serious contenders - something even football cannot claim - rugby's development over the first 20 years of World Cup competition has been remarkable.

With a little vision and some strategic investment, who knows what might happen in the next 20?

12:01am today



By KEVIN FERRIE, Chief Rugby Writer

"For the first time in the history of the tournament, all eight founder members of the International Rugby Board had reached that stage together. How different it could be once this weekend is over"

Was the IRB not formed in 1886 with only the home countries involved--it arose because of a disputed try in England v Scotland match of 1884 and in fact at the first meeting England refused to recognise the new Board and did not join to 1890
A prime mover in this initiative was one James Carrick a Glasgow Accie who played both rugby and cricket for Scotland-and had the distinction of setting a first class cricket record in 1885 with an innings of 419 not out for West of Scotland against English side Priory Park at Chichester

This article was originally posted on 27-Sep-2007, 12:19 by Hugh Barrow.
Last updated by Hugh Barrow on 27-Sep-2007, 12:21.