Big three

Southern countries dominate as expected

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Posted: Friday October 29, 1999 03:30 PM

South African fans are behind their team all way, and have been sending over a 1,000 e-mails a day. AP

LONDON (AP) -- Is it a World Cup or a three horse race?

The Tri-Nations rugby cartel is dominating international rugby to the extent that the Southern Hemisphere powerhouses have grabbed three of the four World Cup semifinal berths.

Defending titlist South Africa clashes Saturday with 1991 champion Australia at Twickenham, while Cup favorite New Zealand takes on France -- Europe's sole survivor -- on Sunday.

That means the French are the only team left to try and stop the big three running away from the rest.

The southerners insist there's no great gulf in standard between north and south while England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland claim to be breaching the perceived gap.

The reality, however, is reflected in the results.

After bowing out in the quarterfinal to Australia, Wales coach Graham Henry -- a New Zealander who guided Auckland to back-to-back Super 12 titles -- said Europe needed to adopt a Southern Hemisphere-style competition format to stay in touch.

Wales' manager David Pickering said the Europeans had to erase the 'tribalism' which prevented an intermediate step between club and international rugby from evolving.

England was almost forced into international isolation last season after its elite clubs withdrew from the European Cup and the national team was threatened with expulsion from the Five Nations over a television revenue dispute.

Despite being rated the No. 1 team in Europe, the English surrendered this year's Five Nations championship to Scotland after losing their last game to Wales.

And they were eliminated in the World Cup quarterfinal on a 44-21 loss to South Africa in Paris after losing 30-16 to New Zealand in the group phase.

England coach Clive Woodward, praised for trying to get England playing a more open game, was criticized for his tactics and selections against New Zealand and South Africa. Although his forwards did their jobs, the backs were wooden and unimaginative and the critics said he should have put more faith in his pack.

Springboks coach Nick Mallett agreed to an extent, saying that England deserved to go further but had been the victim of a bad draw.

With the finalists advancing almost as expected, the one-sided nature of international rugby has become increasingly obvious.

Wallaby coach Rod Macqueen said the Super 12 competition was the catalyst that gave southern players extra dimensions to their games.

"Once it is recognized more across the Northern Hemisphere how much the game really is changing and how multi-skilled the players are having to become -- to be able to adjust the various changes -- the closer the teams will come," he said.

New Zealand coach John Hart also said the northern unions could benefit from the southern approach.

"I share the view that competition structures do a tremendous amount to harness the strengths of the game," he said. "It's important to get the competition structure right like the southern unions have done to develop the game."

The Scottish fans obviously didn't rate Scotland's chances and were conspicuous by their absence throughout the tournament.

A juicy Group A clash between South Africa and Five Nations champion Scotland wasn't enough to entice a capacity crowd to Murrayfield.

As predicted, the Springboks won. And then only paltry crowds turned out for the remaining games against Spain and Uruguay.

Hart said the World Cup should be a "great pageant" and an "opportunity to show our game to the world."

But he said he didn't think the world had been treated to the best rugby as yet and vowed to produce it if New Zealand reached the final on Nov. 6.

With an all-southern final on the cards for the second successive tournament, it seems the remaining teams in the 20-nation tournament are there just to make up the numbers.

If it's a genuine World Cup, then why can't powerful sporting nations like Germany or Russia qualify and how come the Americans can't be competitive? Where are the Chinese and Cuban teams?

Officials from the Pacific Islands and America complained that not enough money is being channeled into development so that smaller countries can continue to be competitive.

Fiji coach Brad Johnstone took his team -- world champions at the seven-a-side version of the game - to the brink of the quarterfinals but said the expense of the campaign had almost bankrupted the Union.

To aid development the International Rugby Board devised the Pacific Rim tournament, which Japan won this year ahead of Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, the United States and Canada.

The Japanese spent lots of money and recruited heavily, including high-profile former All Blacks Jamie Joseph and Stephen Bachop. But it didn't help their cause.

Argentina surprised everyone by advancing to the quarterfinal for the first time, claiming wins over Samoa, Japan and Ireland before losing 47-26 to France.

The Pumas win over Ireland in the repechage was just more evidence of the declining strength in the "Home Unions."

But the Italian campaign did more to demonstrate the dire state of the game in Europe.

The Azzura, who are now fearful of joining an expanded Six Nations competition next year, lost 67-7 to England and was edged 28-25 by Tonga before slumping to a 101-3 thrashing by a second-string New Zealand lineup.

Before the code turned pro, the Italians were at least capable of going close against the top teams.

In the '91 World Cup, they lost 31-21 to New Zealand and in '95 lost 27-20 to England.

Instead of making advances, a disastrous year has probably set the code back decades in soccer crazy Italy.

Of all the strugglers, rookies Uruguay won the most supporters with their determined, no-nonsense approach to the game.

The amateurs grabbed a win over fellow debutantes Spain and had fighting losses to the Springboks and Scotland just to prove there is still a hope for the game outside the Antipodes and South Africa.

 

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