Prioritising Rugby World Cup glory is hurting Australia’s Super Rugby teams
Winning the World Cup remains the biggest prize in the game but is Australia’s obsession really worth sacrificing everything in the four year cycle between tournaments?
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Even if the Wallabies somehow manage to win this year’s World Cup, one question still needs to be asked.
Were the four years of painful defeats and misery that fans have had to endure really worth it?
Winning the World Cup remains the biggest prize in the game but at what price because Australia’s obsession with the Webb Ellis Cup is doing a real disservice to the sport’s followers.
Fans want to see teams winning all the time and they want to see the best players on the field, but that’s not what they’re getting.
For the past four years, the game’s true believers have been sold a lemon, effectively told that nothing than happens in the four year cycle between tournaments really matters because the only thing that counts is winning the World Cup.
It’s rubbish of course and fans aren’t falling for it, as shown by the rows of empty seats in stadiums when they play. What they really want to see is the team winning matches now. Winning Bledisloe Cups, winning Rugby Championships, beating England, beating Wales, beating Ireland, and winning Super Rugby titles. The World Cup should be the cherry, not the cake.
The Waratahs’ embarrassing loss to the Sunwolves underlined everything that is wrong with Australia’s unhealthy infatuation with the World Cup, starting with the flawed rotation policy.
The coaches have to grin and bear it but the players hate it when they get told they have to watch games from the stands.
The system is killing NSW’s chance of building any real momentum on the back of last season and the Waratahs coach Daryl Gibson can’t do a thing about it because all the states have had their arms twisted
“We can’t just keep putting out the same team every week," he said.
The dilemma Gibson faces each week is only going to get worse. Each of the Wallabies has to miss at least two Super Rugby matches this season and some, including the skipper Michael Hooper, haven’t sat out any yet.
The Waratahs aren’t the only team having to rotate players because everyone’s doing it so that’s not an excuse for losing but once this World Cup is over — whether the Wallabies or lose — it’s time to reconsider whether the torment and heartache was worth it.
"We try not to think about it because it is what it is,” Waratahs hooker Damien Fitzpatrick said. “You hear the media come out of New Zealand as well about it and everyone's just got to get on with it
"I'm sure our fans are asking the same question. How can you get it so right the one week and so wrong the next?”
Originally published as Prioritising Rugby World Cup glory is hurting Australia’s Super Rugby teams
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