What was NZRFU chief executive, Steve Tew, thinking when he revealed a veiled threat to boycott the 2015 Rugby World Cup in England? Talk about injecting a sour note into the party. Cross refer to Wednesday's Telegraph for full story. The essence, as ever, is that they want more money. World Cups are a costly business. All the major unions lose money because they're normally filling their coffers at that time staging test matches. Much of the money from a World Cup gets ploughed back into developing the game worldwide.
That's for the likes of Samoa and Namibia and Canada and Japan and Russia, all those tier two nations that have brought so much noise and colour and distinctiveness to this World Cup. Some of them are no longer here because they had the schedule from hell foisted on them, 4 games in 14 days. The All Blacks or England or South Africa or France would soon be bleating about that. Instead the minnows gave it their best shot, making the most of adversity. It's not fair and it's not a level playing field. You get on with it.
So, go ahead Steve, pull the All Blacks out of the 2015 World Cup. It will still take place, it will still be vibrant and inclusive as this World Cup has been. Will anybody miss the All Blacks? Only the All Blacks themselves.
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