1) France 2023 will shape the game’s future At Lyon’s Part-Dieu station late on Sunday night, a lone youth in a hoodie sat down at a piano tucked away to the side of the main concourse and began to play. He was extraordinarily good, to the point where people started looking around for hidden television cameras. As the strains of his mini‑concerto drifted skywards, it reminded me of Ian Foster’s thought‑provoking remark after New Zealand’s coruscating 96‑17 win against Italy.
Foster could have made his point slightly more clearly but, to some degree, he was speculating how rugby might look in five, 10 or 20 years’ time given the current backdrop of player welfare issues. Will it mirror Ireland v South Africa, so physical it made the stands shake? Or bear a closer resemblance to the evasive, running game in which the All Blacks clearly specialise?
“You saw a different spectacle tonight and at some point the world has got to decide which game it would rather watch,” Foster said. To which most people would say that, actually, what they really enjoy is top‑quality rugby in whatever form that takes. But Foster’s words did highlight a fundamental issue.
Many smaller rugby nations will never be able to match the power game of their larger cousins. Which, ultimately, limits the global growth of the sport. And if rugby just morphs into a game for muscle-ripped “piano shifters” it will have a strictly limited shelf life. Alternatively, if it can remain a game for (the rugby equivalent of) dextrous piano players, it instantly becomes more inclusive and multidimensional. Rugby needs the business end of this tournament to fire neutral imaginations even more than the first four weeks have done.
2) The bigger picture needs attention Imagine the scene. A tram is heading for the Geoffroy-Guichard stadium in Saint Étienne. On board are Portuguese fans en route to watch Os Lobos play against Australia. Their enthusiasm is infectious and the wolf-themed furry hats are similarly good fun. Good-humoured howling noises echo down the carriage every now and again. On arrival at the ground there are Portuguese kids everywhere, all clearly relishing the experience.
When the game kicks off, things get even better. Os Lobos play a fast-paced, deft brand of rugby which everyone loves. Why bother with box kicks when you can make 50 metres with pace and verve? “This is great, Dad, when’s their next big game?” “Not sure but potentially 2027 …” Now, more than ever, it is vital for rugby’s global future that the Portugals of this world are not patted condescendingly on the head and sent packing again for another four years. What is the point of the mooted 12-team nations league from the rest of the world’s perspective? Or a Six Nations championship to which no other European team can be promoted? If rugby really wants to grow, it has to tear down its old “tier one” barricades.
3) Review the tournament structure This World Cup is unquestionably too long. The teams have already been in France for more than a month and we have yet to finish the pool stages. There is no doubt, too, that the public are switching off in midweek when there are barely any games being played. The solution? A 24-team World Cup, with six pools of four, has some potential downsides but we could already be through the last 16 and looking forward to the quarter-finals by now. The other eight sides, meanwhile, could be awaiting a plate competition played in smaller stadiums on midweek evenings with a “festival of rugby” vibe. More jeopardy, less sledgehammer-meets-nut inevitability, a less stop-start vibe.
The other alternative is simply to go to 16 teams and reduce the length of the competition. Fine, in theory, but how could you then guarantee USA, hosts in 2031, qualify for their own tournament? Either way, don’t hold the draw three years in advance and contrive a situation where two of the world’s best sides disappear in the quarter-finals …
4) Scrap the bunker Look, it was a decent idea on paper. Take some pressure off the referees, refer controversial decisions to the “review bunker” and allow more time for correct decisions about red and yellow cards to be reached. In practice it is merely adding another layer of muddle and trial-by-video that has done little to clarify what is or is not a red‑card offence. It is akin to stopping a driver at every set of traffic lights while the CCTV is checked.
Far better, surely, to give in-game control back to the ref with a citing officer on hand to do the rest post‑game. That way there is no need for the artificial “will he, won’t he?” charade that Eddie Jones rightly believes is frustrating spectators and leading to a coarser matchday atmosphere. Clear shots to the head could still be called out but the less obvious ones could be dealt with by yellow (or new orange) cards and be subject to post‑game scrutiny without any requirement to stop the clock.
Or, as will happen at some stage, drop the legal tackle height to the base of the sternum as is now required in the community club game. And leave the screens to showcase the wonderful skills being displayed, rather than just the wince-inducing stuff.
5) Promote the World Cup’s stars Who have been the standout performers of this tournament to date? Here are half a dozen names, in no particular order: Caelan Doris and Bundee Aki of Ireland, Fiji’s Levani Botia and Waisea Nayacalevu, France’s Antoine Dupont and Wales’s Jac Morgan. With the possible exception of Dupont, whose face (battered or otherwise) is plastered across France, how many are instantly recognisable to a casual sports fan in, say, New York or Delhi? Not many of them is the truthful answer.
Which makes it all the stranger that shared clips of great tries or stunning pieces of skill are being so tightly policed on social media. Of course there are inevitable rights issues but, equally, this is rugby’s “Look At Me” moment. Or should be. Interview access to players has never been so strictly policed, with little apparent desire to appeal to something other than a captive audience. There are more grim-faced security personnel with machine guns standing outside stadiums than cheerful volunteers helping to get people in. When it comes to showcasing the best of itself, rugby could still do a lot better.
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