I’ve been
writing a column for NZ Rugby World since its debut in April 1997 as NZ Rugby
Monthly. My two-page article was
entitled “All’s not well in the North”.
I was bemoaning
the moribund style of play in the Northern Hemisphere and suggesting a 10-point
plan to get the game back on its feet, including:
1)
The
Unions must secure control of the players,
2)
A
meaningful, top-class Northern Club competition must be developed,
3)
Unions
need to limit the number of foreign players,
4)
The
Rugby season should be switched to the Northern Hemisphere Summer,
5)
Italy
should be admitted to the Five Nations,
6)
NZ
coaches should go across to lift standards.
What
happened?
1)
Ireland
led the way and it shows as they are ranked Two in the world today.
2)
The
Heineken Cup is a great tournament.
3)
Fail.
4)
Rugby
League got in ahead of us.
5)
Done. Now we need promotion / relegation to
encourage Georgia, Germany, Spain, Russia and Portugal.
6)
Done. Henry, Hansen, Schmidt, Cotter etc etc etc.
(I also
suggested – Inga Tuigamala’s two sons should be given English passports to lift
England’s 2015 RWC prospect, Will Carling should marry Jonah / Christian
Cullen’s sister and father two pacey Backs – to take care of RWC 2019, Steinlager
should sponsor England – mother’s milk to great Rugby players, and all Northern
Hemisphere refs should spend two years in NZ to understand ruck/maul/tackle
laws.)
None of
these radical ideas took hold (!!!), but other initiatives – mainly tv money
driven – have come to pass and we are looking at a world in 2019 where England,
Ireland and Wales are ranked ahead of all Southern Hemisphere nations (except
New Zealand of course).
How has this
come about?
1) Nearly all the top coaches
are from the Southern Hemisphere – Eddie Jones, Joe Schmidt, John Mitchell,
Warren Gatland, Vern Cotter, Scott Johnson etc.
2) All Northern teams have
Southern Hemisphere players qualified by residence – Kiwis, South Africans,
Aussies, Samoans, Tongans and Fijians abound … despite the incessant,
historical (hysterical ?) whining of Stephen Jones about our Island players.
3) Ex All Blacks have gone
across at the end of their careers and raised standards of game management, handling
skills and mental toughness across the board.
4) England has woken up – and
is finally adding some creativity to its muscular Forward power. Owen Farrell at 10 is a warrior, May, Daly
and Nowell / Watson are an All Black-like Back 3 – and Itoje and Sinckler are
fast becoming world-class.
5) Wales has invested in
youth, pace and belief. Ireland has Joe
Schmidt, Andy Farrell, Johnny Sexton and Conor Murray – and Scotland has given
the reins to Gregor Townsend, who thinks different.
So, we have
a world game again – and a Rugby World Cup to be played on neutral territory.
I haven’t
been as excited as this in the 22 years I’ve been writing about our Beautiful
Game.
KR