Wednesday 4 July 2007
It seems that winning tests no longer matter and losing matters even less, writes Keo in his Independent Group column.
The All Blacks are relieved to have lost to the Wallabies and aren’t reading too much into the result. The Wallabies aren’t reading too much into it either, saying it was just one win, albeit the first one against the All Blacks since 2004.
Where’s the disappointment in losing a test? Where’s the joy in winning? What happened to living the moment?
What has happened to test rugby?
Why do teams still play test rugby outside of the World Cup?
Former Wallabies coach Eddie Jones described the first Bledisloe Cup test of the year between New Zealand and Australia as a chance for both teams to learn something about the other. Nothing more and nothing less, he said, adding it would give both a chance to assess their respective World Cup preparations.
There was no reduction in the price of test match tickets. The game was officially recognised as an international and players were awarded test colours for taking part in what effectively was just another World Cup practice match.
To add insult to this training exercise, 80 000 punters paid an entrance fee to see two teams play a match one coach wasn’t unhappy to lose and the other wasn’t thrilled to have won.
As King Louis, of Jungle Book fame, would say … ‘Crazy Man-cub … Crazy’.
King Louis, for those familiar with the animated classic, offers the Man-cub a banana in exchange for the secret of how man makes fire. In fact he offers him two bananas to close the deal.
If King Louis had been privy to the crazy jungle professional test rugby has become he would offer two fingers instead of two bananas. He would give the game’s administration, the coaches and to some extent the players an up yours for the scam of charging punters top dollar to watch ‘meaningless’ pre-World Cup test matches when the performance matters more than the score.
The World Cup, played every four years, only has one winner and that winner has to play four big games – traditionally one in the Group stage, then a quarter-final, semi-final and final. Teams on average play 12 tests a year, with most playing eight before the start of the tournament in World Cup year. This gives you 44 tests between World Cups that mean absolutely nothing, according to coaches who rally around the call of World Cup glory in their defence of every performance.
Everything is acceptable outside of those four big games. Only then does it really matter what the score is. Only then is there accountability to the paying public and whoever else invests in a team’s fortunes.
So here’s an idea. Don’t give any of those 44 tests international status. Make entry to the ground free and call them friendly matches between two countries preparing for a World Cup when the real stuff starts, like Portugal against the All Blacks and South Africa against Tonga and the United States.
If you think that’s ridiculous, it isn’t half as crazy as the notion that it is okay for the game’s highest paid rugby professionals to take the public for fools and preach positives from losing a test, while the winners tell you they played better the last time when they lost.
If winning isn’t important, why keep score?
I hate how the World Cup devalues test rugby. It used to be something to beat the All Blacks, but it apparently only matters now if it happens at the World Cup.
Cue King Louis: ‘Crazy Man-cub … Crazy …’
Keo - keo.co.za*Disclaimer - Views expressed within this story are not necessarily the views of this Blog
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