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Opinion
The World Cup has been both a blessing and a curse for Australian rugby.
While there is no doubt about the benefits of winning the tournament to the game as a whole – witness the huge growth in popularity after the Wallabies won in 1991 and 1999 – the quest for World Cup success at the expense of all else has failed the game in Australia.
The current disastrous tour of Europe is a prime example.
Instead of focusing on winning every game on tour, the focus is on blooding as many players as possible in the hope of unearthing a diamond that will help next year in in France.
All the while, the Wallabies go on losing, support at home continues to plummet and rugby’s place at the top table of Australian sports is no longer a given.
Make no mistake, I love the Rugby World Cup and I want us to win it.
George Gregan representing the Wallabies at the 1999 Rugby World Cup. (Photo by Dave Rogers /Allsport/Getty Images)
But I love rugby more and I want the code to once against reach the heights it previously enjoyed.
However, the focus on preparing for each World Cup, rather than on winning every Test match we play, is harming Australia and the game in general.
We need to forget about the World Cup cycle and focus on winning every Test match. If that means that 50 players don’t get to pull on a Wallabies jersey in a season, I would wager that most fans would be OK with that.
That means we need to pick our strongest team every week and not chop and change week in, week out. Make it harder to win a cap, not easier. Make players desperate to get a jersey and even more desperate to hold onto it.
Develop a winning culture. Win every match. Don’t make 12 changes from a team that pushed France at home. Reward those players by selecting them again, get a win over Italy and build momentum.
If Australia can develop a winning culture, then players coming into the side would come into a successful team with established combinations.
Success breeds success, but success also breeds positive media coverage at home, rather than what we’ve seen this week.
We are not going to win next year’s World Cup. We are simply not good enough and we don’t have the cattle.
However, develop a successful team that wins at home and away, then maybe the kids that we are losing to other sports will stick around.
Maybe the schools that have dropped rugby might pick it up again.
Maybe the junior numbers will boom again.
Maybe in 2029 we will win it.
We certainly need to try something different.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.