THE Flying Fijians worked really hard for four years to get to the 2015 Rugby World Cup in their best shape, and despite playing above all expectations from the organisers they were effectively knocked out after five days…. before Romania and Namibia had even laced up their boots.
Does that sound right? Nah, not to me either.
Firstly, which numbskull official decided to do the draw three years before the tournament? May I recommend a red card and a five-year suspension for that person, assuming he or she shows remorse and is a first offender.
A year in rugby is a long time; three years is an era. What a crazy and truly pointless decision —— what benefits could there have been, except possibly meaning less work for those paid to run the event?
At least, the suits at World Rugby have admitted quietly on the side that this was an error of judgement that will not be repeated —— but to be honest I think they only came to that conclusion after hosts England suffered the ignominy of being knocked out at the group stage.
Secondly, and this is something we have discussed before, if the scheduling remains as deliberately biased towards the big nations (those with the purse strings) as it has been at the last four Rugby World Cups, then rugby will never become a proper world sport. Never.
Oh, great rugby officials, please swallow your pride and follow football’s example in terms of scheduling World Cups —— two matches a day, every day of the week. No matter how much you love rugby, it’s near impossible to watch and enjoy four games in one day, and then three the next day.
And just when you thought it was safe to go back into the water, along came the World Rugby citing officers, like a clique of cross-eyed traffic wardens with chips on their shoulders handing out tickets to people that needed to be taught a lesson.
At this point, I must say that I have thoroughly enjoyed this Rugby World Cup so far. The stadia have all been packed despite the obscene ticket prices; the host towns have entered the spirit of the occasion in excellent fashion; and we have Eddie Jones and Japan to thank for the best World Cup match ever when the Brave Blossoms rolled over the Springboks – that was even better than Western Samoa beating Wales in 1999 and Fiji beating them in 2007.
Seeing the Poms knocked out in such embarrassing fashion a few days later was the icing on the cake. Nothing personal against anyone at the Rugby Football Union, but collectively the RFU and England fans played their part in snubbing the cibi at Twickenham. And whereas Australia and Wales beat us fair and square, the Poms benefitted from a lot of dodgy decisions from the ref and the TMO.
The Fijian class of 2015 was simply marvellous. The boys played at a level above anything known previously from Fiji, and off the field were humility personified.
Fiji, like Samoa and Tonga, always prove a big draw for host towns and clubs. The friendliness and humbleness of the players often reminds the locals what rugby is all about… a kick back to the old days when rugby teams would actually go on proper tours and build friendships with fellow rugby lovers around the world.
So to see the Pacific Islanders blatantly targeted by the citing officers and receive quite ridiculous suspensions is hard to stomach. It has left a sour taste in the mouth of all true rugby fans not just those in the islands. We thought this bias was slowly disappearing, but clearly not.
Three matches and three suspensions for Fiji, nothing for our opponents. Same story for Tonga and Samoa, the most crazy of which is the five-week ban for Alesana Tuilagi for absolutely nothing.
“Yes, but we must teach him a lesson,” said a hypothetical citing officer, “and besides, we can’t have him playing like that against Scotland on Saturday.”
“He is like Nemani Nadolo. We felt he was far too good and it would help the home nations if he didn’t play against Wales.”
Nadolo’s hearing for an alleged tip tackle against Australia lasted five hours. And despite being cleared of this offence, the citing people decided he must surely be guilty of something, so they banned him for foul play anyway. Well, that sounds like foul play to me too, but the guilty ones are those in suits not sulus.
Amazingly, none of the Fiji players was cited after the Uruguay match, but maybe that was because the boys were already checking in at Heathrow Airport before the citing people had left their hospitality suite.
Back when the England RFU bid to host the 2007 Rugby World Cup (a bidding process that was won by France), they included a proposal that had the third-placed teams in each pool go into the Plate and the teams below them play off for the Bowl.
That sounded like a pretty good idea as it provided matches in midweek to keep the fans’ interest whilst the main knockout stage games were played on the weekends.
And surely such an arrangement would be self-funding? Those fans unable to afford the extortionate prices for the main tournament could still get to experience a World Cup match in a real rugby town.
It would also provide key international exposure for the smaller teams that didn’t get through the pools, like Namibia and, er, England.
To underline the issues that a Fiji coach has to contend with, only seven of our boys arrive back in Fiji today —— Peni Ravai, Leeroy Atalifo, Henry Seniloli, Nemani Nadolo, Ben Volavola, Malakai Ravulo and superstar lock Leone Nakarawa.
The other 24 players have been re-dispersed back to their clubs scattered around the world.
Sadly, Fiji’s part in this World Cup is over. So, vinaka vakalevu to all the players and management who have done the country proud. You return with heads held high and integrity intact.
