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I’ve made this suggestion in the past to all the important people (the ARU, IRB, Peter Fitzsimons), but it’s topical again this week so here’s another go.
Why not replace the one game of international rugby that nobody wants to play or watch with a RWC Plate for the second-tier teams, played for by the third-place finishers in the pools?
This year it would’ve been Tonga, Italy, Scotland and Samoa, as it happens, neatly reflecting the North/South divide in the main competion.
Two knockout semi-finals would have given some more genuine international competition (and income) to the two Island nations, and kept four more teams and their supporters actively involved in the competition for the last two weeks.
Tonga would probably have started favourites anyway, and it would have given Canada, Georgia, Fiji a genuine goal for the pool rounds, even when it’s clear they can’t finish in the top two.
Play the knockouts in the regional centres and give everyone some more footy and more involvement in the tournament, once the big teams take over.
The winner would arguably be a more genuine ‘third place’ than either of poor Wales or the Wallabies, who have to drag themselves around the park again on Friday.
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