Carnage. It’s an emotive word. But that’s what I fear could be a distinct possibility during this year’s World Cup.
Not among the fans necessarily – through gorging themselves on a feast of fromage, vin rouge, foie gras and 49 rugby games in 43 days could play havoc with a fan’s waistline and sleeping patterns. Going cold turkey and lying down in a darkened room for a few hours should sort that out.
It’s the physical welfare of some of the players I fear for on account of them having to take part in what are, purely and simply, mismatches.
Mismatches, of course, occur in all sports. But only in rugby union and, to a lesser extent it’s half-sibling, rugby league, are mismatches of the physical kind permitted.
Unfortunately there are plenty scheduled for this World Cup. By way of an example, look no further than the tournament’s second Saturday when the All Blacks tackle Portugal in Lyon.
That the result of this encounter between the raging tournament favourite (4/7) and the World Cup’s biggest ever underdog (10,000/1) is a foregone conclusion is not the issue.
The real issue, and a very worrying one at that, is the prospect of the most powerful pack in world rugby scrummaging against the inexperienced and physically weaker amateurs who would have just come off a bruising encounter with an improving Scottish outfit.
This is not to suggest, of course, that the All Blacks will adopt an over-physical approach or the Portuguese will allow sand to be kicked in their faces.
But the bottom-line is that the very nature of these confrontations make it a dangerous business for even the most experienced and physically prepared players let alone for these world cup virgins.
When scrums go wrong, as they quite often do, there is a real danger of a player suffering a life changing spinal injury. Ben Darwin anchored the Australian scrum in 2003 before a collapsed scrum ended his career. The sportsmanship of his kiwi adversary, Kees Meeuws, and excellent medical care probably saved Ben from becoming a quadraplegic. Though still just a puppy in prop years Ben will be commentating this world cup for Australian TV knowing he dodged a bullet.
The IRB have recently introduced rules to help combat this problem and it seems to be helping but this is not the only danger area. The ‘tackle area’ seems to be getting more and more hazardous – Look at what happened to Brian O’Driscoll on the ill fated Lions tour of 2005. The 1995 World Cup was also blighted by such an occurrence when Ivory Coast winger, Max Brito, was and sentenced to spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair after being paralysed in their pool match versus Tonga. The tragedy occurred when Brito was tackled and then crushed by the players in the ensuing ruck. It could be considered a ‘freak’ accident but these ‘freak’ accidents are becoming more commonplace every year and whilst they are not restricted to ‘mismatched’ players it certainly raises the probability of such an accident.
Dr Syd Millar, retiring IRB Chairman, commented recently that the tournament should probably go back to its’ original format of 16 teams. It makes sense – we don’t have 20 competitive teams currently playing international rugby and it would be a hell of a lot safer for those part time rugby players who have to confront highly paid, finely tuned, full time professionals. They don’t have to miss out on their life’s dream of playing in a world cup either if a second tier tournament were to run parallel to the top tier championship as has been suggested. These ‘minnows’ add a certain mystique to the tournament as we are not used of seeing them on the big stage but it has to be weighed up against the physical risks and wellbeing of those involved. And how much benefit is there really in watching sides getting beaten by 100+ points?
Daniel Herbert
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