Not A Tournament For The Ages

THE RUGBY WORLD CUP is over and it's back to pairritch and auld claes for a week or ten, before International Rugby cranks up again with the start of the Guinness Six Nations. By the way – prediction: the most-used phrase throughout the tournament will be: “Rugby World Cup bronze medallists England:” the Master Race's cheer leaders will take every opportunity to remind the “Boyos, Eyeties, Frogs, Sweaties and Paddies” just which of the Six Nations went furthest in France.

Given the talent they have available to them, those bronze medals will surely be some sort of comfort blanker as England struggle at the foot of the Six Nations table.

Any way, that's for next year, how will we remember Rugby World Cup 2023? Not with much affection I warrant. The over-riding theme of this flawed event has been Criticism:

1. Of the draw – made far-too-early

2. Of the referees

3. Of the Television Match Officials – who seemed to be involved too much

4. Of the preferred tactics of some teams

Host nation France came out of the tournament rather well. They put on a great show and, until La France Profounde rather lost interest when Les Bleus went out, they provided a stirring chorus to the travelling fans. As ever, there were complaints about the tickets, the pricing and the attitude of the French, but, c'est la vie; they will give a nonchalant Gallic shrug and move one.

From a Scottish perspective, it was pretty much what we feared; we tend to go into these sort of tournaments more with hope than expectations, this time round, ranked fifth in the world but drawn against Number One-ranked Ireland and Defending Champions South Africa, we were expected to finish third in our group, and that's what happened.

So, the reality is: The Best Scotland Squad ever wasn't good enough to make any impact on the world stage. That's something for the great brains at EH12 to sort out and, from past expectations, I don't expect things to improve any time soon.

We might actually be better-placed than the likes of England, Italy, Wales and perhaps Ireland going into Six Nations 2024, we have fewer top players retiring, we have a game plan and we will not be bedding-in a new coach, but, as ever, a top three finish is perhaps the extent of our ambition for this coming tournament; while if we have a long-term plan towards RWC 2027, it's still a secret.

But, before we consign RWC 2023 to the dustbin of history, let's have a last look at those four takeaways from above:

That controversial draw

Obviously, organising global sports tournaments isn't a job which can be accomplished successfully in a couple of weeks. However, the three-year lead-in to this year's tournament was clearly flawed, World Rugby has to get it right this time round, when, don't forget, they are hell-bent on an even bigger tournament – with 24 rather than 20 nations participating.

Personally, I would like to see FEWER rather than MORE nations being involved – one-sided hidings, handed out by a Tier One Nation to a Tier Two or Three Nation does nothing for the game's image.

Referee Criticism

I make no apologies for banging this old drum again, but, I reckon the Game, at elite professional level, is nowadays well nigh unrefable. We need to look seriously at the whole landscape of refereeing – and that's a massive one, and certainly worthy of a “long read” blog post.

I had my doubts about the fitness of some of the nominated officials – referees whose week-in, week-out performances in their respective domestic leagues did not fill me with confidence regarding their fitness to officiate at the very-top level. Sadly, in some cases, these fears were realised.

However, no way were all the referees shite. As I have repeatedly said, back in the amateur days of the “home team referees” - you knew you were going to be stuffed if you were with the away team. These days are long past; of course referees, even the very-best, make mistakes, but, on the whole, they do a terrific job, in often near-impossible conditions.

Wayne Barnes, who as (by common consent) “The Best Referee in the World” got the final, wasn't perfect – but, he was unbiased and to suggest referees at this level went onto the park under instruction to ensure that Team A or Team B won. That's a nonsense.

Television Match Officials

OK, Rugby Union is further down the road than Association Football when it comes to having someone in the television production truck with an overview of events on the field. The handling game's protocols in this activity is probably superior – as witness the weekly controversies in football. However, I reckon World Rugby should perhaps send somebody to the USA on a fact-finding mission, to see how the National Football League, which admittedly has a much-larger budget with which to work, works its Television overview of games. And, some fans in North America have doubts about even their system.

Team Tactics

It's an obvious comment, but, you can only pish with the equipment you are given, and, if you don't have Finn Russell, or the depth of talent for running rugby of the French or the All Blacks – well, unless you are England Coach – in which case whatever you do will be seen as wrong by a high proportion of your constituency, well you have to find a way to win which best suits the players you have.

Rugby Union used to be a game of speed and evasion, today, in the profession (actually Open Era, it has become to some extent an arm wrestle. We haven't quite gone down the American Football route of having separate Offensive and Defensive units, but, I fear we may be headed that way. The “Tactical Genius” of RWC 2023 appears to be Rassie Erasmus, with his 7-1 bench split. If that's the future, then I fear Private James Frazer is up there with Nostradamus.

I want to see normal-sized humans running at other normal-sized humans, not Orcs on Steroids grappling. I want to see games won by breath-taking tries, not 80 minute penalty shoot-outs. However, I may have to wait for that Law Book overhaul happening.

To sum-up, this was not one of the great Rugby World Cups. It will not linger long in the memory. South Africa's limited game plan triumphed, which is not I fear good for the game going forward.

In the wake of this tournament, we are left looking for more, and Rugby Union is the poorer in the wake of a flawed, over-long event, which ended with the team which tried play the more attractive rugby losing the final to a limited team, who put defensive excellence and sticking to a limited game plan ahead of trying to win by playing entertaining rugby.

And, that cannot be good for the future of the game.