Australia achieve advance

ALONG with the chief executive of every other union on the planet, with the possible exception of our own Bill Watson - times are hard at Murrayfield Inc, let’s not forget - the RFU’s Francis Baron was in Sydney all last week for the denouement of Rugby World Cup 2003.

Long before last night’s final in Sydney, this was being hailed as the greatest RWC ever - and not just by an indigenous population known to fish for compliments from time to time. But the facts are it very nearly wasn’t and the reason it succeeded beyond reasonable expectation owed less to the entertainment on view and more to the fact that it was hosted, almost by default, by a single nation in a land of almost endless sunshine and among a population for whom sport of any sort transcends virtually everything. France, and their Six Nations brides of convenience, among whom are Scotland, have an impossible act to follow in four years’ time. Tell me again, Bill: How many can we expect at Murrayfield for Romania against Tonga? It seems aeons ago that we were anticipating a 2003 event that would be divided between two countries, Australia and New Zealand, and we can only give heartfelt thanks that the Kiwis cocked it up so comprehensively that the tournament stayed this side of the Tasman Sea.

As this World Cup has demonstrated, Baron and England had it right on another front, too, and that was in their belief that the only way to engender meaningful competition, at least until the semi-final stages, was to have a two-tier tournament with the big boys fighting it out for the main prize and the lesser nations taking part in a glorified plate competition.

The minnows had a role here and the underdog-loving Aussies took the Georgias, Japans and Namibias to their hearts. We all did. But there was something patronising about the support that followed Japan in Townsville, or Namibia in Adelaide - the sort of smiling indulgence we offer a five-year-old playing football against 12-year-olds - and all that support melted away, of course, whenever one of the upstarts played the Wallabies. It is also difficult to discern what advances were made by Namibian rugby in the 142-0 defeat by Australia. There has been much talk about boring England over the last fortnight, but believe me, Australia 142, Namibia 0, that was boring. It would surely have paid Namibia to have competed on a level playing field with the likes of Canada, USA, Georgia and Uruguay in a lesser, but more meaningful and competitive, secondary competition. The arguments against involve the inevitable fears about lack of bums on seats. But while it wouldn’t come close to filling Murrayfield’s north stand, Namibia against Romania was a near sell-out in the rugby-free zone of Launceston, Tasmania. Melbourne and Adelaide, too, cities where the only meaningful football is played with an oval ball by men in singlets, also embraced the spirit of the tournament, forgot Aussie Rules for a time, and came out to party. Perhaps there is an argument for holding every World Cup in Australia, for the success of this one owes almost everything to the enthusiasm and good humour of the Aussie crowds. The organisation, as you would expect from a country that hosted the greatest modern Olympiad, was peerless.

So, for now, let’s raise a VB or two in honour of the most vibrant sporting nation on the planet and one that carried this tournament through its occasional doleurs to last night’s incredible climax.

Let’s treasure the memories: of wild-west Townsville, the Queensland city that took the irrepressible Japanese to its hearts, of Caucau’s tries, Ireland’s stupendous tussle with Australia, the big-hitting South Sea islanders and the red shirts of Wales swarming all over the stunned All Blacks. Let’s remember forever Georgia’s 19 points against South Africa, the brutality of the Boks’ clash with England and the ruthless suppression of vibrant France in rain-soaked Sydney in a match made even more memorable by the sight of something we had long suspected - that behind the scowling features of Martin Johnson there lurks a starry-eyed sentimentalist. The England captain’s smiling embrace of Fabien Galthie at the end of what turned out to be the great French scrum-half’s last international match confirmed that whatever format future World Cups take, in whichever country they are held and however much money they make, the game will always be about the player. This, surely, is the very essence of the Rugby World Cup.

Finally, lists being almost mandatory in World Cup retrospectives, here, for what they are worth, are my awards for Rugby World Cup 2003.

Try of the Tournament: Perm any one from three of Rupeni Caucau’s effort against France and double against Scotland. As an illustration that there is room for individual brilliance in a game increasingly played by numbers, Caucau’s feats were startling and uplifting in equal measure. The best wing in the world? No arguments.

Team of the Tournament: France got a right, royal mugging in the dreich semi-final against England, but until then they managed to capture the essence of French rugby in match after match: elan and verve with a hard edge when necessary. In coach Bernard Laporte they also had an expressive, indulgent and intelligent communicator whose PR was a lesson to all. Scotland and New Zealand, incidentally, came joint last in this department.

Player of the Tournament: Lots of candidates for this one. England’s Jason Leonard passed Philippe Sella’s international record of 111 caps in the semi-final against France and gets a mention in dispatches for that alone and in a trophy-winning side All Black Richie McCaw would have come close. My vote, in the end, goes to Japan’s Takeomi Ito for a mind-boggling work-rate and, above all, the knowledge that, at 14st 2lbs, he must be the lightest No.8 ever to take the field in a World Cup.

Hit of the Tournament: Sebastien Chabal of France wiped out both Aaron Mauger and Brad Thorn of New Zealand in the third/fourth place play-off in spectacular style, but his hits paled into significance alongside the tackle by Tonga stand-off Pierre Hola on Canada’s Al Charron that took the veteran Canuck out of his fourth World Cup - and ended his career.

Villain of the Tournament: Caucau and Martin Leslie were in the frame, as were the All Blacks, who failed miserably to enter into the spirit of things until it was too late. But in the end the vote goes to the Sydney Daily Telegraph for its one-eyed chauvinism, ludicrous posturing... and sheer ignorance.

Under-achievers of the Tournament: Scotland.

Over-achievers of the Tournament: Wales.