New Zealand threatened to pull out of the next World Cup in a $NZ13 million funding row on Wednesday as Georgia secured a historic win over eastern European rivals Romania.
New Zealand rugby chief Steve Tew said an unprecedented withdrawal would be “the very last port of call” but could not be ruled out, as his organisation was currently posting a loss at every edition of the tournament.
“That’s obviously a last resort and our style is to be consultative, collaborative and to try to work with everybody to find a solution,” Tew told Radio New Zealand when asked if the All Blacks could skip the next World Cup.
Tew said International Rugby Board (IRB) rules penalised major unions in World Cup years because their regular Test schedules were curtailed and teams were not allowed to promote their sponsors during the tournament.
He said this meant that competing at the 2011 World Cup was costing the NZRU more than NZ$13 million ($A10.44 million), casting a shadow over New Zealand’s participation in the 2015 tournament in England.
“It’s putting pressure on the balance sheet and frankly, in the current environment, we just can’t afford to run a World Cup-year loss, nor do we think it’s necessary.” he said.
All Blacks hooker Keven Mealamu said the players and much of the country would be “devastated” if New Zealand withdrew from rugby’s quadrennial showpiece, which will next be held in England in 2015.
“The country wouldn’t been too happy about it, the same as the players… it’d be devastating for us as rugby players to know we couldn’t make it to the next World Cup,” he told reporters.
The row threatened to overshadow action on the pitch as Georgia won the first ever World Cup clash between eastern European countries with a 25-9 victory over Romania.
In a penalty-strewn encounter in Palmerston North, Georgian fly-half Merab Kvirikashvili grabbed 17 points with the boot as flanker Mamuka Gorgodze scored the only try of the match early in the second half.
It was just the second time that Georgia had won a World Cup match after they defeated Namibia four years ago in France, and it sent Romania home with four straight defeats.
“It was really the game we wanted to win,” said Georgian skipper Irakli Abuseridze. “It was very hard. I understand that for the Romanians it was really very hard after only three days’ rest after England.”
France played down reports of player discontent as they geared up for Saturday’s clash with Tonga, where they are expected to qualify behind Pool A leaders New Zealand and set up a quarter-final with England.
“That’s just the way it is in the life of a group of 30 guys who are together for three months,” shrugged prop Fabien Barcella. “There are ups and downs.
“We will go our separate ways at the end and some will go off on holidays together, others not.”
But Scotland warned they could still throw the draw wide open — and avoid an early journey home — by upsetting England and preventing them from scoring a bonus point in their much-anticipated encounter in Auckland.
“We’ve just got to be a little bit more clinical and at the weekend… if we’re not clinical we’ll be looking at the worst case scenario, which I don’t even want to think about,” said assistant coach Graham Steadman.
Japanese media expected coach John Kirwan’s demise after he failed to halt a 20-year win drought, leaving their progress way behind schedule as they prepare to host the tournament in 2019.
“We wanted to move one step forward but we were stagnant,” the team’s general manager Osamu Ota told Japanese journalists in Napier.
“We have no choice but to review our development system,” he said, adding that team leaders, including himself, “have no choice but to take responsibility”.
And the All Blacks urged legendary winger Jonah Lomu to “be strong” as he battles a flare-up in his long-term kidney problems in an Auckland hospital.
After team training in Wellington on Wednesday, All Blacks players and New Zealand Rugby Union staff gathered to hold up letters reading “Get Well Jonah — Kia Kaha (Be Strong)”.
“I think being a fellow All Black we just want him to get better,” Mealamu told reporters. “He’s been a big part of the All Blacks in the past and is probably a big part of what it is today.
“It’s sad to see a man like that the way he is at the moment, so we’re really hoping for him to get well quickly.”
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