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World Cup semifinals feature big-market teams

What a difference a week makes.

Last Monday, the World Cup was expecting the semifinals to include all three SANZAR teams, but no Six Nations representatives. Then England upset Australia and tournament favorite New Zealand once more stumbled against the French.

The surprising turn of events undoubtedly delighted the tournament's business managers.

The final four not only features the rejuvenated hosts against their biggest rival -- happily located just across the Channel -- but also boasts three 'big market' teams. England, France, and South Africa are far more sizable countries than Australia, New Zealand, and Fiji, and conveniently the Africans are in the same time zone as western Europe.

The main reason world rugby would like the United States to succeed also is commercial. Their game is more valuable if it can gain a foothold in our sports market.

Hopes for Japan are much the same, but the IRB's motivation for helping the other 'Tier 2' countries is rather different. Canada, Fiji, Romania, Samoa, and Tonga are seen as having more of a rugby legacy.

Argentina once would have been classified in this group, and indeed considered joining the old Pacific Rim. Now the question is whether the Six Nations or the Tri Series is a better fit.

So far as playing rugby goes, it is interesting to note that the Eagles turned in credible performances against three of the semifinalists over the past four years.

In 2004, the Eagles led the Tricolors at half in Hartford, and pressured the Six Nations champs all the way in a 39-31 loss. The following year, Glasgow (now Saracens) wing Francisco Leonelli slipped by fullback Francois Viljoen to score an injury-time try, giving the Pumas a 34-30 Churchill Cup win. Of course, the 2007 World Cup has seen a close match with England and a lopsided result against South Africa.

Such results will now be watched more closely by the IRB and, thankfully, our own management too.

Puma success warrants another look at amateurism, Argentine director says

World Cup quarterfinalist Argentina is better off as an amateur country, according to English international-turned-Union Argentina de Rugby director of rugby Les Cusworth.

“I have changed my opinion significantly over the last two years,” Cusworth said in an interview with the BBC. “Especially if you look at the problems Welsh and Scottish rugby has gone through.”

“We have a base other countries would die for and our future, while amateur, is a lot brighter than many nations,” Cusworth said.

It’s been assumed that American rugby must launch a professional competition as a precursor to improving internationally. In recent years, no country has climbed the rankings more than fourth-placed Argentina, favored to advance past Scotland this weekend and reach the semifinals for the first time.

Most of the Puma World Cup squad competes professionally in Europe. But before they move abroad, the Argentines develop and refine their skills in an amateur environment, and generally it’s the case that athletes from outside the Commonwealth or European Union have to be better than ‘domestic’ players because of passport restrictions.

(As an aside, many Pumas have college degrees – relatively uncommon among European or Antipodean professionals – and two are even medical doctors.)

Also for the first time, none of the so-called home unions (England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales) may gain the World Cup semifinals. Cusworth suggests, with an obvious degree of self-serving rhetoric, it’s because these countries have ignored the recreational clubs and competitions where would-be internationals get started. “Lots of amateur clubs have gone because of professionalism. To get an elite, you need a wide base," he said.

In an interview earlier this summer, Belmont Shore coach Jonny Cox suggested Australia’s club model as worthy of America’s review. Australia's professional realm is rather smaller, and its club structure more pronounced, than most of its 'Tier 1' rivals.

Two years ago, former USA Rugby manager Dan Lyle tabled eligibility regulations that would have encouraged America’s senior clubs to resume overall growth, rather than focusing on national championships and the semi-professional requirements of the Super League. The main proposals died in a Board of Directors committee.

Thanks Dave for emailing the story.

On executive accountability

reporter's notebook Elsewhere, Fraser Neill stepped down as New South Wales chief executive. What cares American rugby?

To begin, Neill essentially funded the Sevens World Series, and was keen on America's participating right from inception. The USA 7s is now our best asset (even if in private hands). Also from his IRB post, he was an effective manager of the Pacific Rim tournament's expansion, and later the 2003 World Cup.

So Neill was a friend to the USA. Was he a good manager?

In Australia's rugby heartland, the Sydney Morning-Herald credited Neill with ‘with guiding the union through its transition back to independent control following its administration under the Australian Rugby Union after it went bankrupt.’ Planning for the new Australian natioanal championship was executed on his watch, a bruising process, and revenues fell off disastrously this year on the back of a historically poor Waratahs season.

And so Fraser is out. Contrast this with USA Rugby’s passive acceptance of past chief executive Doug Arnot's paucity of technical initiatives, three massive operating losses and subsequent fire sale of the USA 7s and 7s jersey for $150,000, three consecutive annual losses, and a unprecedented dues hike borne primarily by youth and college students. Only when senior staff leaders made the record plainly obvious was Arnot fired.

Soon it will be Nigel Melville's turn to be evaluated on vision and performance. Like Neill, Melville is a rugby man, and the genial circumspection which he has demonstrated to date will have earned him credit.

One-third of Maple Leaf World Cup side based at home

More than one-third of Canada’s World Cup side is based at home, which runs counter to the view that the Can-Am rivalry is ‘professionals against amateurs.’

Seven pro players didn’t make the Maple Leaf squad, eRugbyNews concluded in an analysis of the 32 players (subscription required), further suggesting that one’s training regime is at least as important as ‘full time’ status. European competition helps but is not solely determinant of North American athletes' skill and achievement.

Like the USA, Canada does not have a professionalized domestic competition. The Canadian union does draw upon government subsidies for elite athletes (so-called carded players), and benefits from Commonwealth ties which circumvent European Union restrictions on work permits for would-be American professionals.

But Rugby Canada has enjoyed government subsidies for more than a decade, and has always had more players in Europe. In other words, the ‘pros vs joes’ rationale wouldn’t seem to explain why the once-close rivalry, which stood at 4-6 since the 1999 World Cup with 3 of the 6 losses by less than a try, has suddenly degenerated into consecutive 50-point shellackings, the highest margins of defeat in the 30-year series.

The US and Canada are joint partners in the North American 4 competition, which is meant to be a cut above the two countries’ domestic competitions. But while Canada has been forward-looking in evaluating and fast-tracking players not yet in its national squad, USA Rugby has treated the cross-border tournament as a kind of extended trials assembly, even swapping players among the two sides, such that it is hardly comparable to the supposedly inferior Super League.

America has far more rugby-playing universities than Canada, with state-of-the-art facilities popping up in numerous locations. Accordingly, more than 60 percent (16 of 26) of the 2005 Churchill Cup side had earned Collegiate All-American honors, though the total and percentage has dropped to less than 25 percent (8 of 36) for the World Cup training squad to muster this Saturday.

Welcome "Yanks Across"

An interesting new site called Yanks Across has begun chronicling the fortunes of Americans in British and Irish rugby.

The site today today marks its one-month “anniversary” with a portrait 1958 Heisman Trophy winner and Oxford University “Blue” Pete Dawkins. One anecdote:

"I'd never played rugger before and I did all sorts of things that are just not done," [Dawkins said].
Those things included shouting encouragement to his teammates during a match. During that era, the team captain was the only person expected to speak on the field and all other chatter was discouraged.

It’s well known that Dawkins “invented” the modern lineout throw by introducing the overhand spiral pass, but remarkable to learn that the one-time Army football star (and hockey vice captain, and baseball letter winner) inadvertently helped bring better on-field communication to the game.

A more typical entry:

Ex-University of Oklahoma star and USA Eagle Tyson Meek has been loaned to Derby RFC.
Derby competes in the Midlands Two East Division in the English Leagues. They currently reside in second place, two points behind league leaders Loughborough University.
Meek has been named to the replacements bench for Derby's Saturday match against Kettering.

A sense of context – understanding the game’s universal spirit and also the meaning of distinct local characteristics – is important for those who would understand the wide world of rugby beyond one’s doorstep. Yanks Across appears to be equally conversant in both the "home unions" and the American games.

Law changes gathering steam?

A panel of international worthies, including World Cup-winning coach Rod MacQueen and IRB referee manager “Paddy” O’Brien, carries on evaluating “experimental law variations” designed to promote the contest for possession and continuity of play while reducing penalties at the breakdown.

According to the IRB’s winter 2007 edition of Total Rugby (page 11):

The critically important areas of the breakdown which are being rigidly enforced by the match officials are:
•  players entering through the gate, which has been found to be very beneficial in ensuring that players do not come in from the side and therefore spoil well won ball
•  offside, where defenders are in front of the last man on their side of the breakdown
•  players on the ground preventing playing of the ball

Key to enforcement is increased authority for “flag judges” (formerly touch judges).

Other interesting changes are repositioning the offside line at scrummage five meters behind the hindmost foot and reducing many penalties to free kicks. Offside, foul play, and not entering breakdowns “through the gate” remain grave offenses.

The law variations have been trialed at South Africa’s Stellenbosch University, and will next be deployed in Scotland’s senior club competiton, according to Total Rugby. New Zealand, Australia, France, England, and Ireland will also put them into play this year.

Any such changes must be sanctioned by the IRB council if they are to become standard rules of the game. There is virtually no chance of any revisions before September’s World Cup. The USA does not have a vote on the council.

Uruguay waits for North American runnerup

Uruguay downed Chile 43-15 yesterday in Montevideo, earning the Teros second place in South America’s World Cup qualifying tournament and the right to play the loser of August 12’s Canada-USA matchup.

The hosts led 25-3 at half, en route to a five-tries-to-two victory, RugbyRugby reported.

Uruguay and the North American runnerup are tentatively scheduled to play a home-and-away series in September, with the winner claiming the Americas 3 seed in pool A, which features defending champion England, South Africa, and Samoa along with a repechage qualifier.

The victor in next month's St. John, Newfoundland, contest goes directly in pool C, with Australia, Wales, and Fiji.

Canada names separate World Cup, NA4 squads

Canada is calling on 13 European professionals for August 12’s World Cup qualifying match against the USA, while one of its two North American 4 squads is little changed from May, underlining a clear distinction between international and representative players north of the border.

Among those returning home are prop Kevin Tkachuk (Glagow Gunners); locks Mike James (Stade Francais), Luke Tait (Parma), and Colin Yukes (Agen); and lock/flanker Jamie Cudmore (Claremont-Ferrand). Former Stade Francais halfback Morgan Williams, who skippered the Maple Leafs in last month’s 33-18 Churchill Cup win over the USA, will again be captain.

Last week USA coach Peter Thorburn tapped three of America’s five European pros for the USA’s NA4 squads, saying that “just because they’re playing overseas, they’re not going to be automatic selections.” Canada has taken the opposite approach, stipulating that the British and French leagues are superior to the startup competition, and allowing its overseas internationals to sit out not only the NA4 but also the Churchill and Barbados matches.

Some 21 of the (apparently) 28-man Canada West squad traveling to Ohio took part in the opening round, Rugby Canada said in a press release. High-scoring wing Justin Mensah-Coker will be unavailable, as the high-scoring freshman wing will be trying out with England’s Northampton, but the Wests have added three Canadian 7s internationals.

(Confusingly, the release gives 31 names – one of whom is the renowned “A.N. Other,” the rugby’s world traditional way of designating a player to be named later.)

Canada East has not yet named its squad.

The Wests head the NA4 table with a 2-0-1 record and 11 points. The Easts and Jim Love’s Falcons are tied for second with 7 points, while Pete Steinberg’s Hawks bring up the rear. After two more round-robin matches on July 22 and July 26, the top two teams will play off for the championship on the 29th.

The stakes of the August’s Can-Am match are considerably higher: the winner advances to Pool B of the 2007 World Cup, while the loser will face a home-and-away qualifying series against either Chile or Uruguay, depending on the outcome of their July 22 match. Argentina downed the latter 29-0 last weekend, winning the South Americas championship and thus qualifying for Pool D.

Related: Three European pros in NA4 rosters

New Zealand Maori 27 Ireland 'A' 6 (halftime: Maori 12-3)

First-half tries from Shannon Paku and man-of-the-match Liam Messam proved sufficient as the New Zealand Maori bested Ireland ‘A’ 27-6 in the Churchill Cup’s pool B decider.

The victory sends the Maori on to Edmonton, Canada, to contend for the championship Saturday against Scotland ‘A’, upset winners of the pool A.

In 24-degree sunshine, playing a third contest in eight days, Jono Gibbes’ XV emerged deserved four-tries-to-none victors. Yet the stop-start affair might have been tighter if several Irish linebreaks had been better supported, or flyhalf Paddy Wallace converted two second-half penalty chances awarded with the score at 15-6.

Hosea Gear and replacement Thomas Waldrom scored in the final 10 minutes to seal the game.

“The tries were always going to come at the end because of the work of our tight five. In the second half we respected the ball a bit more,” Gibbes said after the match.

“We didn’t perhaps deal with the intensity that Ireland brought to the game,” he added.

Paku opened the scoring at 11 minutes, assisted by Gear after Irish lineout ball was stolen. Messam’s try, at the half hour mark, was a bollocking, 25-yard solo run launched by tap move. Wallace replied in injury-time, making the score 12-3 at half.

Irish win Robert Kearney hit for an improbable drop goal at 42 minutes, answered immediately by a Callum Bunce penalty goal. Wallace’s two misses meant his side would draw no closer, particularly after teammate Roger Wilson was dismissed at 69 minutes.

Messam figured in Gear’s counterattack try, keeping the move alive with a centering kick, and assisted Waldrom’s with a pop pass.

New Zealand Maori 27 Ireland ‘A’ 6 (halftime: Maori 12-3)

New Zealand Maori
Tries: Shannon Paku, Liam Messam, Hosea Gear, Thomas Waldrom
Conversions: Callum Bruce, Matt Berquist
Penalty: Callum Bruce

Shannon Paku; Anthony Tahana (Cory Jane), Richard Kahui, Neil Brew, Hosea Gear; Callum Bruce (Matt Berquist), Chris Smylie (Corey Tamou); Joe McDonnell, Scott Linklater (Luke Mahoney), Deacon Manu (Mike Noble), Kristian Ormsby (Thomas Waldrom), Paul Tito, Jono Gibbes (captain), Tanerau Latimer, Liam Messam (Jake Paringatai @74)

Ireland 'A'
Penalty: Paddy Wallace
Drop goal: Robert Kearney

Bryn Cunningham; Simon Keogh, Kieran Lewis (Eoghan Hickey), David Quinlan, Robert Kearney (Neil McMillan); Paddy Wallace, Chris Keane (Thomas O’Leary); Ray Hogan (Ronan
McCormack, John Fogarty (Brian Blaney), Tom Court (Declan Fitzpatrick), Trevor Hogan, Matt McCullough, Roger Wilson, Shane Jennings (captain), Jamie Heaslip

Referee: Andrew Small (England)
Attendance: 4,106

Maori name young XV for Churchill opener

Five New Zealanders make their Maori debut tonight against the United States in Santa Clara, California.

Four of the debutants are in the backline, including halfback Chris Smylie, flyhalf Matt Berquist, center Richard Kahui, and wing Zar Lawrence. Prop Mike Noble is the newcomer in the forwards.

Another five players were first-time Maoris in last Friday’s 20-16 victory over New South Wales in Sydney. Lock Paul Tito serves as match captain for Jonno Gibbes, who is in the reserves.

Prop Greg Feek, loose forward Jake Paringati, and reservist Scott Linklater return from the two teams’ 2004 meeting, won 69-31 by the Maori.

New Zealand Maori
Shannon Paku; Zar Lawrence, Richard Kahui, Pehi Te Whare, Cory Jane; Matt Berquist, Chris Smylie; Greg Feek, Luke Mahoney, Mike Noble, Kristian Ormsby, Paul Tito (captain), Thomas Waldrom, Liam Messam,Jake Paringatai

Reserves: Scott Linklater, Deacon Manu, Ross Filipo, Jono Gibbes; Corey Tamou, Callum Bruce, Anthony Tahana

Related: Six Eagle changes for Maori match