.... But the majority of them won`t be seeing RWC2011, which means that the next wave of players will have to come through then. So if the Argies are satisfied with one tremendous RWC every 8 or 12 years, yes then the current setup is fine.[/b]
You see, I really think that they would be satisfied with one tremendous RWC ever 8 or so years because they just watch it for the fun.
There seems to be a fundemental difference between how Rugby in Argentina is structured and viewed by the population and how rugby in the professional world is structured and viewed.
In the traditional Six Nations and Tri Nations, every effort is geared towards producing as high a quality of international squad as possible. Everything that these nations do is to make sure that the best players are in their best condition at the right time and are wearing the national jersey when it counts. Things like payments towards clubs, central contracting, franchising over private ownership, elite directors of rugby directing operations; all of this is geared towards getting the greatest potential out of the nation's stock of rugby players as possible.
Argentina's approach seems very,
very strange to us because it blatantly flies in the face of all of this. They have a sprawling amateur system with little direction only to send a few players north or to the Super 14 every once in a while. Their system of management verges on that of a Communist International (better call Ripper, he'd love this) and as a result things happen very slowly in Argentina.
Why are they doing this? We ask each other and ourselves, don't they know that if they continue like this it might be a whole decade before they can truly challenge for the World Cup again?!
I think Argentina do know this, but they've had the benefit of watching the pitfalls of professionalism or quasi-professionalism across the developed rugby world. And they don't like it one bit. They like their amateur clubs, they like the fact that they can watch players running out onto the pitch playing for nothing than for pride for the jersey and for the game.
And you know what? Because we've been so obsessed with professionalisation and have been so obsessed with performance targets, minimum standards for performing in competitions, developing squads to get the best possible levels of talent, stregnth and endurance out of the players..and most importantly, to make the most amount of money to finance all of this, that we've forgotten just how great amateur rugby used to be.
Today, every facet of rugby in the top ten (apart from Argentina) is big business. Even the smaller national club competitions in Wales, Ireland, South Africa and New Zealand are marketed, sponsored chopped and changed by advertisers, broadcasters and administrators all looking to make a quick buck. Ladies and Gents, we may all pay lip service to the old Amateur days, but do we really realise how nice and easy those days used to be like? Do you remember a time when competitions used to be about rugby and pride in the jersey without even a murmur about financing, profits or investment or, actually, anything financial at all?
Now Bok, I agree with you, if Argentina do want to compete on a regular basis both year on year and in a world cup, they'll have to turn to a professional system. But you have to look at what the Argentinians are struggling to protect and ask yourself: is it really worth it?
