• Help Support The Rugby Forum :

Reply to thread

Link:Despite imbalance, World Cup cashes in


That's from a Canadian article one week ago. Instead of closing off the World Cup to developing nations (the likes of the USA and Japan are potentially big TV markets) as the plan seems to be doing, the iRB should invest a lot of this money in tier 2 and 3 nations to bring them up to speed.


With just 6 months of iRB aid in the form of extra coaching, these nations who'll likely be culled next time have improved their performances drastically. What sort of improvements would be likely with 4 years extra aid? The World Cup is a cash cow for the iRB and this money would be wisely invested if it went towards improving the standard of nations outside the usual suspects. I fear that it will instead go to butressing top teams still further thus creating a bigger gap between the haves and the have nots.


A 2nd tier tournament is a good idea however it should not be at the expense of culling 4 teams from the biggest stage. I feel those countries who don't automatically qualify for the World Cup (ie those who finish 4th and 5th in their group) should be entered into a 2nd tier event two years out from the World Cup along with 8 other qualifiers. The top 4 teams in that competition gain entry to the World Cup and are immediately thrust into a schedule against the worlds top 12. The 4 remaining places can be determined over the course of the following year via a qualifying tournament. That gives every nation at least one year of full preparations for the World Cup, which is what the iRB are stating as their intention, without the need to cull teams.


Top