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It started with an explosion of heat and passion, a rocking stadium in Paris, parties in the street, and then, after three days, like the beer, the fun just ran out.
What kind of World Cup whips everyone up to fever pitch – then just kills the momentum stone dead?
While the FIFA World Cup is able to put up to four matches a day through its opening two weeks – and gets neatly wrapped up in four – the rigours of rugby mean extra time and care must be taken with the talent.
That’s a given, but with any luck, a move to 24 teams – hopefully in four years time in Australia – will help overcome the miserable buzz kill rugby fans have felt since the last stunning moments of Wales’ win over Fiji
Between that Semi Radradra dropped ball and the next action in this tournament stands a chasm of 96 hours. Sure, some of those are well used with sleeping, and nursing hangovers.
Out on the town in St Etienne on Tuesday night, and the place was humming. Bars in the square were jammed, frantic staff serving up Aperol Spritzes, glasses of rose and big mugs of beer along with planches of delicious food.
A South Africa fans celebrates during the Rugby World Cup France 2023 Group B match between South Africa and Scotland at Stade Velodrome on September 10, 2023 in Marseille, France. (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)
It felt like a World Cup – except for one key factor. Wouldn’t it be great to have some footy to watch as well?
And it’s no as if the return of the action will necessarily be a return to action. There is a chance that only one match is a humdinger – Australia vs. Fiji. A glance at the odds shows just one other match where the outsider is paying under $10 for the win – Japan ($9.50 against $1.06 England).
Of course the main issue is that unlike the football World Cup there is such a significant difference in quality between the 10 tier one teams and the others, and this weekend pitches too many goliaths in against Davids.
Going to 24 teams necessarily won’t solve that problem, but will at least serve up more content. More games for people to watch on big screens in fan zones, or on their couches, or in the stands. The goal must be to have games on every day during the pool stages – or close to it – with marquee matches or teams on the marquee weekend days.
The inaugural Rugby World Cup in 1987 was a 16 team tournament,, with 20 in 1999. It was rejigged in 2003 to be four pools of five. While that has been used in every tournament since, in 2003 there was a just a two day gap after the round of gaps. That’s a pause for breath. What we have now is “are you still breathing?” match days.
We are much more aware of player welfare than we were in 2003 when the Cup was an attritional affair.
Even as late as 2015 Japan faced the ridiculous scenario of having to play Scotland a mere four days after beating South Africa. They were thumped 45-10 and it cost them a chance of the knockouts.
But there has to be a better solution that a tournament that sees Tonga play for the first time NINE days after the tournament’s opening ceremony.
There are many schools of thought on how a 24 team Rugby World Cup should be run.
For starters you’d expect four pools of six teams or six pools of four teams. Under the first second system there could be an additional round of knockouts, with more meaningful games, and 16 of the 24 teams advancing to a next stage.
Australian Nelson Dale, founder of the Draft Rugby Podcast, came up with proposal for a 24 team competition that included a bowl competition for eliminated teams. It produced plenty of debate.
The Tier 2 Rugby account predicted there would be whinges about the make up of this tournament. Happy to oblige!
Several of the replies showed promise, including this from Gavin Grace who believes having the teams ranked 9-24 having to qualify through to meet the top eight seeds is a solution.
I’m going to come out and admit it: my maths proficiency is as low as my boredom threshold, so while I’m Tier 1 for complaints, I’m Tier 2 for solutions.
Who of you has a fix for this?