World Cup format is flawed
15 Dec 2010
MARK KEOHANE, writing in Business Day Sport Monthly, says the World Cup needs to be revamped so that the most consistent team is rewarded.
It says something for the consistency of the All Blacks that we only seem to remember the games they lose. Unfortunately it says as much for the Springboks in their great rivalry with the New Zealanders that we can remember all the games the South Africans win.
The Rugby World Cup, introduced in 1987, has changed the way results are viewed and it has also encouraged mediocrity in between World Cups. Success is defined by who wins a competition played once every four years and the commercial highlight of professional rugby is a seven-week competition, in which the three play-off rounds produce the only strength versus strength match-ups.
Statistically, no sports team in the world (regardless of the code) has consistently excelled like the All Blacks, and no team can boast winning three from four games in over 100 years against all comers. The All Blacks, since professionalism of the sport in 1996, play the Springboks and Australia on average three times a year home and away, yet they still win 60% of the match-ups.
The consistency in New Zealand’s rugby is reflected in 10 Tri-Nations trophy wins in the past 15 years, three Grand Slam triumphs in three attempts over five years and 13 wins in 22 visits to South Africa. The Boks, in the same period, have won three Tri-Nations championships, no Grand Slams and three in 21 Tests in New Zealand.
The All Blacks in the past eight years have also won 42 from 44 matches against northern hemisphere opposition, but lost to France in a one-off at the 1999 and 2007 World Cups and because of this France are said to have New Zealand’s number, despite historically only winning 12 matches in 49 against the All Blacks.
Knockout competitions are cruel and they don’t always reward form or substance, but is it right that one tournament, played every four years, can render everything else in Test rugby meaningless?
In soccer I can understand the prestige of the World Cup because of the number of teams capable of winning the tournament and the quality of the match-ups from the pool stages.
I remain unconvinced that the measure of a team in rugby is who wins the World Cup every four years because the Six Nations and Tri-Nations, as respective tournaments, are more difficult to win.
Rugby only has five teams capable of winning the World Cup, and all have the ability to beat the other in a one-off situation, which is why winning the Rugby World Cup is more a lottery than it is the successful implementation of a meticulous four-year plan.
New Zealand are consistently the best team in the world, even in unsuccessful World Cup tournament years, and they have the record to back up this view. All Blacks captain Richie McCaw has played 94 Tests in the past decade and lost 10. No other captain in the history of the game has achieved this success over a 10-year period, but two of those defeats have come in World Cup play-off matches, in Sydney in 2003 and Cardiff in 2007.
Does that mean the 84 wins and countless trophies count for nothing? Of course it doesn’t and that is why for the Rugby World Cup to be a true measure of who is a world champion and who is a World Cup holder based on a one-off win, the tournament needs to be revamped to a strength versus strength format, which would reward the most consistent team.
The current World Cup format means one of the top five’s tournament can be over because of 40 poor minutes in the only meaningful match they play.
This kind of format will seldom reward the best, and rugby can learn from the North American approach to sport finals in all their major sporting codes. Firstly, it takes winning consistently for a team to get to the final and secondly, once there it takes the same amount of consistency to actually be crowned champions through a best of three, five or seven series, depending on the code.
The luck of a good day and the curse of a bad one is removed from the equation because over a three-match series, for example, the winner will have needed more than good luck to be the champion.
Rugby nations, pre one-off Tests and professionalism, traditionally played a three or four Test series to determine the winner, so why can’t the game revert to strength versus strength at the World Cup?
The opening month of every Rugby World Cup has been a farce with one-sided pool contests. For the event to have greater credibility it needs greater substance.
Strength versus strength would also give meaning to every Test played in between World Cups because teams would be playing to make the top eight of a premier World Cup tournament.
In a revamped model, which makes the use of a squad of 30 essential rather than an option, the top eight teams play each other over a month period. Each team plays seven matches, two a week, and the top two in this World Cup Premier League qualify for a best of three final to be played over a 14-day period. If a team goes two up, there is no consolation third match. Whoever hosts the World Cup Premier League every four years also simultaneously hosts the World Cup Championship League for teams ranked nine to 16.
This way the game is still grown and the incentives are still there without the embarrassment of mismatches that are
a feature of rugby’s World Cup.
It would also remove the lottery element from who wins the World Cup and again force coaches and their respective administrations to honour the true meaning of Test rugby.
It may also end New Zealand’s search for World Cup glory and start South Africa’s search for year-to-year consistency.
– This first appeared in the December issue of Business Day Sport Monthly.
621 Comments
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15 Dec 2010, 12:11 pm
Lilly
You are completely confused here?
Who wants to see a tournament where the favourites always win.
That’s part if the beauty of sport.
And your tennis analogy is flawed.
Our world cup win was different because the people we beat in the final earned the right to be there.
As we say in Harlem, class is in session
15 Dec 2010, 12:12 pm
NZ is better at rugby. The stats clearly show this. So why not appointment a NZ Bok coach? Why MUST it be a South African? The Boks’ record would have been way better outside of the WC if we overcame the fear of “outsiders” long ago. We would not have had this see-saw record under NZ coaching and leadership. When the Boks go to Europe one can never be a sure about the expected results as is the case with NZ. In the TN we are almost never the team to place bets on. We are inconsistent. Why not get NZ’ers to help us become more consistent?
15 Dec 2010, 12:12 pm
Question is, why do the Kaaiwaais get knocked over by other teams in RWC’s.
Why why why.
15 Dec 2010, 12:13 pm
@Jeez : Oh he will… He is Helium’s secret love child
15 Dec 2010, 12:15 pm
@kevin w : And sadly we are the chokers of the cricket world
15 Dec 2010, 12:18 pm
Bangkok bok
Sadly we are.
I tell you what… Why don’t we change the format of the tournament to put a stop to that?
15 Dec 2010, 12:19 pm
@Transformation : @ 142
“no man this is no trap!”
(OK, so far so good. Maybe he’s being legit, for once)
Transie, Im still struggling which which morally superior answer to give at this stage – y’see, I just cant help myself – but the Paranoia Fairies are still whispering to me that somethings not quite right. I dunno but ” did he really write an article like that, that yourself Black Panther read?” somehow has a certain ring to it.
You tell me, Transie – did he ?
Or maybe, just maybe, it get lost amidst the “Boks are brainier, superior” or the “incredible depth” that immediately preceded 0-3, I just dont know any more.
15 Dec 2010, 12:19 pm
@bangkok-bok : too true, but it does not make the tournament rubbish and a waste of time like people are implying with the RWC.
15 Dec 2010, 12:20 pm
Best of 3 (or 5) series are interesting thing, I just cannot see that happening in rugby. Potential World cup final series over the whole month? WC going on for 3 months? It’s just not like basketball, football or even ice hockey, I can hardly imagine teams playing 3 or 4 games in a single week.
15 Dec 2010, 12:21 pm
@gunther : England were a worthy opponent were they?
Let me ask you this. If NZ or Australia were in that final in 2007, and not the Boks, and their opposition was England. Would you have said it was a great final? Personally that 2007 match was one of the worst games ever played. Ugly rugby to the bitter end. Everyone knew the Boks would win as they had already beaten England earlier. Be honest. After France, Aus and NZ were out of the WC, it stopped being interesting, and the Boks had a free pass.
15 Dec 2010, 12:23 pm
@rossoneri : 99 between aus and France was pretty ugly.
15 Dec 2010, 12:23 pm
@moedeloos : I am saying that the coaches and SARU are dictated to by the number of players of colour in the team, this creates a situation, where some players were not selected entirely omn merit.
There have been numerous instances of this, and I am not saying any players cost us matches, I am saying, no other country in the world has such complexities.
15 Dec 2010, 12:24 pm
@Great White Shark : I believe it is because they panic under pressure from home to win a WC. If NZ can approach the WC as they do every other game between WC’s they will consistently win the thing. They must see the WC as just another series of games and not this tournament they struggle to win. It’s in their minds.
15 Dec 2010, 12:26 pm
I hope mighty and the rest of the keo youth league are enjoying the World Youthapalooza in Gauteng.
I hope there are enough boerie rolls, caps and t-shirts to go round.
Maevis wanted to attend when she heard that they were serving smileys.
I had to tell her that she was on the wrong side of 40 and that she actually owed me about 4 weeks of paid leave.
She muttered darkly about taking me to the gender and equality commission for being ageist.
On the plus side we have found out that our gardener has an excellent singing voice.
Maevis and I have decided to tender for the first ever black heavy metal band.
We will play at all ANC events.
Maevis has decided to call them Guns n Moses.
She is the manager and will take 30%.
15 Dec 2010, 12:27 pm
@Great White Shark : @ 153
Probably because those others (I mean especially Europeans) can afford to play ***** for 4 years running and say “it’s development for the World cup, so results do not matter”.
15 Dec 2010, 12:28 pm
If I was the NZ coach the WC games will be entries on the team calender like all other games with the words World Cup nowhere to be seen.
15 Dec 2010, 12:30 pm
I suspect the pressure of the WC in NZ will be huge on the All Black psyche, and can be their downfall … again.
15 Dec 2010, 12:34 pm
Lilly
Was the world cup soccer final pretty ?
Few finals ever are. Because there is a lot at stake. That’s where the excitement comes from.
If you want to watch a game of rare beauty then go and watch an exhibition match.
You probably didn’t enjoy it because you team had gone home already.
Come to think of it you must have felt a bit of ****** standing there in your all black jumper crying into your Bacardi Breezer
15 Dec 2010, 12:35 pm
@Jeez : including the 30 or so games he lost when he started in Super rugby.
lets not be selective when using the stats
15 Dec 2010, 12:36 pm
Crikey keo
How can you censor the word
P
E
C
K
E
R
?
15 Dec 2010, 12:36 pm
@gunther :
What is it with Mavis and the smileys?
15 Dec 2010, 12:37 pm
@Katsesnor : This is NZ’s WC … they have a WC 100% win record at home; suzie will poison the Boks; The ref will miss a forward pass for them to beat the french; mortlock will drop the intercept in the dying minutes; and England wil continue to be considered ‘not a worthy opponent” even although contesting the last 2 finals.
Then we can all breathe a sigh of relief and say that justice has been done in the world of rugby.
15 Dec 2010, 12:37 pm
@gunther : When I want to watch true beauty I watch Barcelona kick Real Madrid ***. Nothing boring about that.
15 Dec 2010, 12:38 pm
Anyway, better leave WC as it is. Even if it is clear, that the winner will be only one of 5 or so teams, unlike football where at least a dozen are within a good shout.
It’s simple, win 7 games from 7 and you are the champion. Or win at least last 3 playoff games. That will be consistent enough for me.
15 Dec 2010, 12:38 pm
@gunther : That band would be perfect for ANC gigs. They could close each set with a special Zuma dedication, “Sweet Lovechild of Mine”.
Also, I think you should scout around Bonteheuwel, Lentegeur and Mannenberg for a lead guitarist. That way you could call them Gums and Moses. Just a thought.
15 Dec 2010, 12:38 pm
@Couchcoach : ok thanks for the list.
in which games did they actually cost the team the game.
15 Dec 2010, 12:38 pm
The fact is, many underdogs have failed miserably once they reached the finals, eg. Pakistan in 2 World Cup Cricket tourneys, England in the last Rugby Wc, France as well, etc etc .
But there have been many Underdog stories that have been good ones too. Boris Bekker when he beat Lendl as a youngster. Unceeded. Pete Sampras who won the US open at the age of 18 or so, also as a noboddy etc. Michael Chang.
In golf there are too many to mention.
Any sport has them and it’s what keeps the magic going. If it were just a league then what would be the point IMO. People would give up half way through the year.
15 Dec 2010, 12:39 pm
@rossoneri : @173 Amen to that.
15 Dec 2010, 12:40 pm
@stormersboy : @177 Or Ivanisevic winning the Wimbledon having just a wild card.
15 Dec 2010, 12:41 pm
Woodpecker.
15 Dec 2010, 12:42 pm
As long as the current political selection system stays in place in South Africa, we will always not be able to select the best coach or players.
The All Blacks dont have the controversies of South Africa to deal with. They simple select the best players for each position and build up to the games with a consistent team.
They will remain the most consistent team as long as these challenges remain in South Africa.
The fact that South Africa is shooting themselves in the foot has nothing to do with then and they deserve to be number 1 in the world.
15 Dec 2010, 12:43 pm
So you can mention it in its full state of arousal, but not flaccidly.
15 Dec 2010, 12:43 pm
@Katsesnor : IF the boks had the success of the ABs, the pressure to defend the title would be huge too. Luckily we have a 64% winning rate. Great isnt it, thus no pressure to defend the title and thats probably because Keo makes a valid point-nobody actually really believes that winning the WC makes you the best in the world. It hardly proves that you are a consistently good team. Just look at the boks after 07 and england after they won it. Nope, get a professional coach who can create a winning culture and implement a mindset to destroy any opposition on every occasion, not only during WC years.
15 Dec 2010, 12:44 pm
@Couchcoach : and i am happy with PDV’s appointment. He was selected having the same track record and credentials on which the previous coach was picked.
His track record thus far is also the same as that same coach at the same time.
I think he can do much better. He made loads of mistakes. He needs to think before he speaks. And with all SA coaches he needs to play a better brand of rugby.
but i am happy with how he was selected and his track records based on the fact that some proclaim jake as a hero. if we are comparing apples to apples there should be no problem with this?
15 Dec 2010, 12:45 pm
Katters
They have been practicing that already.
We are also doing done heavy metal covers of Love my Tender and He Ain’t heavy He’s my Cadre.
With a encore of Live and Bribe and Welcome to the Bungle.
We have tried some Cape Spanish band members but they keep stealing the guitar strings to use as garottes.
Also they don’t like Moses telling them what to do.
15 Dec 2010, 12:46 pm
@Nils :
Aha
15 Dec 2010, 12:48 pm
@moedeloos : I think the question should be, would a full strength team (with players that were excluded because of political/racial selections)have made a bigger difference? I think they might have. A good example is the number of times FDP had to sit on the bench while Ricky was picked as the first choice scrumhalf.
15 Dec 2010, 12:49 pm
@rossoneri : All the ABs are islanders. After all, NZ is a group of islands.
15 Dec 2010, 12:50 pm
@gunther : 164 you’re late the Blk Jks (pronounced Black Jacks) are the first all-BEE rock/heavy metal band…and they’re based in Gauteng, sorry for you, Maevis & Moses
15 Dec 2010, 12:51 pm
@TheTackler :
..and here I thought Fiji was a group of islands..
15 Dec 2010, 12:52 pm
@gunther : No set is complete without “Shaik, your Moneymaker”.
15 Dec 2010, 12:54 pm
@Jeez : A full strength team picked only on merit plus a coach picked only on merit- no passengers or tackle bag carriers- given a year or two to gel would have made a HUGE difference! Oh- thrown in a NZ or Ozzie coach and we have a winning formula!
15 Dec 2010, 12:55 pm
It would be an error to consider the Abs buckle under pressure which leads directly to their downfall. Simplistic but unfortunately incorrect.
Their loss in 2007 would be more correctly due to the out-of-position selection and lack of experienced combinations playing on the field – call it arrogance or whatever, from having a good squad of 30 players built up.
The same happened in HK where the inexperienced combinations were on the pitch for the last 20mins.
The same old coach is at the helm with his neck on the block – is he going to let his inexperienced combinations be out on the field during the crucial games in the WC – methinks not. He has a well oiled machine at his fingertips.
However, one thing is guaranteed at this WC – some countries will have the opportunity to lift their winning percentages in NZ.
15 Dec 2010, 12:57 pm
Transie
We are exclusively heavy metal.
Non of this rock nonsense.
Viva Guns n Moses.
Maevis says that you must stop being unnecessary. She is trying to watch the wrestling and book GnM for the ANCYL Hannukah party.
She has no time for ironing let alone arguing with jumped up model c students.
15 Dec 2010, 13:03 pm
@Nils : 179. Exactly. Although I must admit that he’d been a finalist before that. For me, the best serve in tennis ever.
15 Dec 2010, 13:03 pm
@gunther : the on;y heavy metals moses knows are garden forks ,spades & sheets of corrgated iron to build his shack…
maevis only knows the iron…
15 Dec 2010, 13:03 pm
Indeed katman.
At the ANCYL barmie we are reworking that Elvis classic Rubbercheckin’..
Obviously Maevis has negotiated payment in advance. In krugerrands.
15 Dec 2010, 13:04 pm
@moedeloos : HM took a group of losers and made them into Super 14 champs,twice. It might have taken him a few lessons, but it surely payed off. The S14 is the toughest contest there is-Mallet mentioned that, so it must be a pretty accurate statement. So winning it should be proof that HM has the ability to build a unit/squad that can win consistently. The continuity of the bulls in recent years is proof of that, even under Ludeke as coach. Even today no other coach except Ludeke (with Meyers bulls and influence as director of rugby) has shown that they can build a team to be consistently good and win trophies. I dont even like the bulls, but im just stating the facts.
Who do you propose is the best coach in SA?
15 Dec 2010, 13:10 pm
Alberts dreams even bigger
2010-12-15 11:00:07
To say that Willem Alberts had a dream start to his Test career is an understatement – three caps as a replacement and a try in every Test he took to the field. rugby365.com columnist Keith Moore spoke to the popular Sharks and Springbok loose forward.
When you watch Willem Alberts play, you can see he is cut from the old-school mould of South African flank – hard working in the forward exchanges, ferocious and unapologetic in defence and an unfortunate sight for midfield defenders when charging with ball in hand.
But when you speak to Alberts you see that it is not just his rugby that is a throwback to the old days.
Quietly spoken and polite, Alberts carries all the trademarks of his small-town upbringing. His uncompromising style on the field is complimented with a very relaxed attitude off it and the humble loose forward speaks more highly of his team’s achievements than his own.
Talking exclusively to rugby365.com from Durban, the barnstorming forward gives some insight into the previous season for the Sharks, what he and the team hope to achieve in the next season, and his dream start with the Springboks from which he recently returned.
“It was a very special tour for me. Making my debut and scoring three tries and just experiencing the whole environment was very enjoyable.” he told rugby365.com.
October 30 was quite a day for Alberts as he lived two of the biggest moments for all South African rugby players – winning the Currie Cup and being selected for the Springboks.
“When the final whistle went in the Currie Cup Final I thought it was the best moment of my life. Then about half an hour later I heard the news that I had been selected for the Springboks and it all made it a very special night for me. I am very blessed to have been able to experience something like that.”
Being selected for the Boks is not just an honour for the players, it is also a moment to remember for their friends and family. When the Springbok squad was announced, Alberts’ phone couldn’t cope with all the support from his loved ones.
“My cell phone actually broke and I am using an old second-hand one which doesn’t have a lot of memory, so when the SMS’s started coming in I had to delete 20 to get to the next 20! But ja, I had a lot of calls from friends and family throughout. It was very special for them which made it even more special for me.”
Despite being one of the ‘new boys’ in the squad, Alberts says that he was made to feel welcome by the regular squad members from the outset when he arrived at the Springbok camp.
“Obviously there were a few Sharks guys on tour and it was awesome to be there with them, but all the senior guys were very welcoming too, so it was great to just be with them in that environment. They are all good guys, so it was very easy for me to settle in.”
Sitting in the change room with the Boks for the first time, Alberts was overwhelmed by the occasion, but mentions that he was also acutely aware of the responsibility that came with being there.
“For sure, you feel it when you are there with all the greats. Victor Matfield was a hero of mine when I was at school and to play alongside a guy like that is a huge honour. But also when you think about all the guys who have worn the jersey before you, you know you have your work cut out for you. It was a very proud moment for me.”
Though a more natural blindside flank or eighthman, he played most of his rugby on the openside for the Boks. According to Alberts it was his natural strengths that gave him the chance to play a part in those games, and the coaches were keen for him to express those strengths.
“I don’t think that they had a stringent plan in playing me at No.6 really. My role coming off the bench for the Boks was simply to make an impact when I went on the field, which is what I was trying to do,” he said of a run that saw him score tries against Wales (a 29-25 win), Scotland (a 17-21 loss) and England (a 21-11 victory).
“In the set pieces I didn’t get a lot of ball due to the normal structure of play, but after a couple of phases of general play, as an opensider I was able to get myself in a good position to get some ball.”
Alberts says that in past teams he has only been used at openside sparingly.
“Since my late school days I played loose forward and lock and it was the same at varsity. I played one or two games at openside for the Lions, but I normally only play there when the coach wants to pick a more physical pack.”
But the product of Hoërskool Monument says he will play anywhere the coaches pick him as long as he gets more opportunities to wear the Green and Gold.
“I’m happy to just get game time. I was playing openside as an impact player this tour but to be honest I think I am best suited to play either on the blind side or eighth man. But saying that, I will play anywhere if it means playing for the Springboks – even flyhalf!”
Alberts’ Bok selection came on the back of his strong performances for the Sharks, who he joined at the beginning of this year. When asked if playing for the one of the big South African franchises aided in his plight to play international rugby, he says that although it is something players have to consider, it wasn’t his only reason.
“That’s always in the back of your mind when you move to a good franchise like the Sharks but it’s not the only factor. It was coming to a point where I needed a change in my rugby career and the opportunity to play for the Sharks came up and I think in the end it worked out quite well.”
Moving to a new city is always a daunting prospect, but Alberts is enjoying his new life living on the coast and says the people of Natal have made the move easy on him.
“Ja, loving it, it’s nice and sunny and hot in Durban! All the people are very friendly and it makes it feel like there is a small-town vibe to Durban. Although it’s a bit English and I’m obviously from a small town that is very Afrikaans but the fact that everyone was so friendly made it easier to settle in and make it feel like home.”
The Sharks are fortunate to have the services of plenty of talented loose forwards to call on, but according to Alberts there are no issues when one player gets picked over another, and says that he is close to his rivals off the field.
“Jean Deysel and myself are very good mates, we go fishing together a lot and Kanko and I are good mates too. We all know that each of us brings something different to the team, and whenever we get a chance to play we are helping the whole side. Everybody is a part of that one team, and I think that is part of our success this year; we all put the team first and the rest follows naturally.”
Currently enjoying a rest period before rejoining his franchise, Alberts has not yet taken part in any of the pre-season preparations, but he is looking forward to a new season of rugby and has already started to focus on the team’s challenges ahead.
“I’m sure there is going to be a lot of emphasis on our game and structure for next year’s Super 15. We have come out of a very good Currie Cup season this year and we would expect to carry that on to next season in both the Super 15 and Currie Cup.”
With the new Super 15 tournament just around the corner, Alberts is confident that with the quality players at their disposal, the Sharks have all the ingredients to launch a winning campaign in the revamped tournament.
“I think we have a good chance to win it – we have a very good squad. It’s a long tournament so the whole squad will come in to play; everyone will have to be at their best for a long period of time and whenever one player needs a rest someone else will have to step up and the rest of us will have to play to the best of our ability.”
When asked what his personal goals for the season are, it seems Alberts is hoping for a clean sweep of team and personal achievements.
“Obviously it would be nice to win the Super 15 with the Sharks and put in a big fight to defend the Currie Cup next year and hopefully make the Springbok squad as well.”
You could wager that the Sharks will have a big job on their hands in a tough new season in the Super 15 and in defending their Currie Cup crown, but in terms of Alberts’ personal goal, it would hard to bet against the man.
15 Dec 2010, 13:11 pm
How about a metal version of that old Aerosmith classic “Eat the Rich” sung by a combo of Previn & Julius ?
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