Time World Rugby pulled its head out of drainpipe

Of the 49,000 people in attendance for the third test between the All Blacks and British and Irish Lions, only those desperate to visit a commode had anything to celebrate when the fulltime whistle sounded.

No joke. When referee Romain Poite ended the match with the scores locked at 15-15, you could have heard the clouds above Eden Park collide.

In the deathly silence, supporters from both sides turned to stare at each other and shrug their shoulders. Is that it? We waited 12 years for a Lions tour, and now we aren’t even going to see a winner?

That was that, the three-match series was declared a 1-1 draw. For those that could be bothered sticking around, there was the chance to ogle Kieran Read and Sam Warburton awkwardly hoisting the trophy together.

How’s that for getting some value for your entertainment dollar? Exactly. What a farce.

It was the same when the All Blacks drew 12-12 with the Wallabies in Sydney in 2014. Ho-hum.

And when the Springboks and Wallabies drew in their tests in Perth and Bloemfontein in the Rugby Championship recently. The looks on the players’ faces said it all. The frustration, no doubt mixed with a little bit of anger, will have stayed with them until well after they had caught the team bus back to the hotel.

The punters went from being poised on the edge of their seats to shrugging their shoulders, and asking if they would have been better off sitting at home and polishing the cutlery.

The longer World Rugby prevaricates on the issue of whether or not to add extra time to tests, the more they risk alienating their supporters.

So here’s the message. Press the hot button and get on with it.

Professional sport is all about entertaining the masses. There could be merit in the argument that plenty of football games in Europe end in scoreless draws and it doesn’t deter the fans, if it weren’t for the fact that rugby struggles to capture live audiences.

It is up to the administrators to make the game as appealing as they possibly can. If a product can be improved, you immediately pull off the cuff links, expose your forearms and see what tinkering needs to be done.

What you don’t do is sit back, and feel smug. Or, worse, roll your eyeballs and say: ‘‘Oh well, there might be the odd draw but let’s not overlook at all the other terrific results that everyone is talking about.’’

The last thing World Rugby needs to do right now is stand in front of a full-length mirror and admire how great everything appears to be. Because, if they care to get out among the ordinary 40-hour grafters out there in the public arena - the ones who pay good coin to attend test matches - they might discover everything isn’t quite as grand as they thought it was.

Going to a footy game is like attending a movie. You want a result. Nothing too complicated, just a good old fashioned contest where, rightly or wrongly, one side won.

You don’t want a lame finish where the villain and hero don’t settle their differences. That is what it feels like when a rugby match is drawn.

The last thing World Rugby needs to do right now is stand in front of a full-length mirror and admire how great everything appears to be.

Richard Knowler