If there were any accountability in World Rugby, the executive and management should all be penning their resignation letters.
They should be hiding in embarrassment over the way the 2023 edition of their World Cup has unfolded, with the top four teams facing off in the quarterfinals.
The two late quarterfinal matches produced all-time classic contests for fans.
And so we are facing semifinals that, for me at least, don’t hold the same level of anticipation.
I cannot see Argentina beating New Zealand — full stop.
And as for the other playoff, I think England should prepare themselves for another crushing defeat by the Springboks, similar to the 36-0 group massacre from 2007 or, if you prefer, the 32-12 demolition of 2019.
Sure, the final could be another cracker. I’m assuming with little risk of contradiction that it will be the Springboks against New Zealand for only the second time in history.
Now the dunderheads running World Rugby might think I’m overreacting to this debacle, but I don’t think so.
In the final of the inaugural tournament in 1987 New Zealand played France. Four years later it was England against Australia. And at South Africa’s debut on home soil in 1995 the Springboks took on the All Blacks in a nail-biting final.
The first three finals featured five different teams. That’s not bad at all. In fact, the first three finals of the Fifa World Cup also featured five different teams (Italy appeared twice and then Uruguay, Argentina, Czechoslovakia and Hungary).
Since then all six RWC finals have featured those same five teams in different combinations. Next weekend will be final No. 7, with a likely repeat of 1995. Five nations in 10 World Cup finals doesn’t seem like a lot.
Soccer’s World Cup had five new teams in their next seven finals, along with repeating nations. And since their 10th tournament in 1974, only three new sides have made the final — France, Spain and Croatia. That’s just 13 different teams in 22 World Cup finals.
In all, a further 11 teams have competed in their semifinals, illustrating how difficult it is to excel in the world’s most popular sport.
The rugby world is far smaller. Outside the five dominant sides, the only other different faces seen by fans in semifinals have been Wales (three times), Argentina (twice) and Scotland (once).
Reaching the semifinals at a RWC is a tough ask, and this is why World Rugby have failed so dismally.
Ireland, as the top-ranked team in the world, should have had a quarterfinal against one of the weakest of the sport’s top 16 sides. They should not have been playing the All Blacks.
They’ve never made a semifinal before, and they really should have been on that stage at the 2023 RWC.
World Rugby’s job is surely to grow the sport, but their stupidity prevented fans from seeing a new side among the final four. In 2123 fans will glance back at old RWC results and think to themselves that Ireland never made a semifinal because they were crap.
The truth, however, is that it was World Rugby that was crap.
Not only did they let Ireland down, but they failed the French too. The home fans have been robbed of two matches — a semifinal and a playoff, be it the final or for third place.
World Rugby president Billy Beaumont and his mob should depart voluntarily as soon as possible, or get kicked out pronto.
If we can’t see debutants in the RWC semifinals, then at least let us see some new names in the governing body.
Rugby deserves administrators with fresh enthusiasm to sweep through Beaumont’s stale, fart-filled boardroom.
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