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There’s no denying the lopsided results the 2013 RLWC has produced highlight the gap between the top and bottom rugby league playing nations, but it’s not the only sport that has its ‘top’ championship dominated by familiar teams each time around.
Since its inception, the RLWC has had four different nations take part in the grand final for three different winners; the Rugby World Cup has had five different nations take part in the grand final for four different winners and the FIFA World Cup (just to bring in another example) has had eight different winners from 12 contenders.
The RLWC has been dominated by league-playing nations (Australia, New Zealand and England), while the Rugby World Cup has been dominated by the Southern Hemisphere and the FIFA World Cup by South America and Europe.
There’s no doubt areas in which each code thrives will produce chamionship winning performances.
Critics of the RLWC have their place, certainly, but the volume (and frequency) at which its detractors have been airing their grievances is getting out of hand.
The lopsided results in question are no more horrific than some scores produced in recent Rugby World Cups.
Of the top five biggest winning margins across both the Rugby World Cup and RLWC, three belong to rugby (142, 128 and 98) all of which were winning margins for Southern Hemisphere teams.
The above statistics may be apples/oranges but my point remains that most (if not all) world sporting tournaments are, and always will be, contested by the same nations each time around.
We need to start appreciating the increased coverage of our respective sports and the extended reach these tournaments provide instead of focusing far too much on the (very predictable) scorelines in certain matches.
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