Hart issues ominous warning
It would effectively formalise the July (formerly June) and November inter-hemisphere windows, and is expected to put millions more into the pockets of the top unions.
However, though the northern hemisphere’s flagship competition, the Six Nations, would effectively remain unchanged – bar a proposed promotionrelegation system that is already meeting staunch resistance – the same cannot be said of the south’s Rugby Championship.
Under the WR plan the Championship would expand to six teams, with Japan and Fiji nominated as the designated additions, and would suffer a major remake away from the current system of home and away matches among the four participants.
Hart has major reservations over the Nations Championship concept on several fronts, the former All Blacks coach telling the Sunday News it would severely compromise both the Rugby Championship and World Cup, and also failed to address the major issue in the global game.
‘‘All I see happening is that the countries that will get fed are the top countries again, and the countries that won’t get fed are the countries that need the money,’’ Hart said.
Hart also had serious concerns over adding Japan and Fiji to the Rugby Championship.
‘‘People will not watch a competition that is uneven,’’ he said. ‘‘We’ve made that mistake with Super Rugby, kept adding teams, and every time we add teams we weaken the competition. I don’t think there’s a team been added in Super Rugby that’s added value. In fact, they’ve weakened the competition, so more is not better.
‘‘It’s flawed, and flawed further because the north are totally protecting what they’ve got. Are they talking about reshaping their competition? Of course not.’’
Hart felt an unofficial world championship each year would not only ‘‘become boring’’ but it would seriously impact the game’s flagship event.
‘‘The World Cup is special, and this will dilute World Cups. They should agree a global season and still have competition between north and south, and still have Lions tours and teams touring. It’s hard now but that’s a far better approach.’’
Where Hart sits the rich just get richer under the mooted plans, and this fails to address the game’s glaring imbalance.
‘‘The Nations Championship will put money in people’s pockets, but it will be the same pockets it’s going into now. It’s a short-term solution to a funding issue and getting more equitable money into the southern hemisphere, but it doesn’t solves the problems we face.’’
Then Hart morphed into what he believed was the most important issue facing NZ Rugby right now.
‘‘My fear for New Zealand rugby is not the All Blacks. It’s the bottom end of the game where I see clubs struggling and schoolboys stopping playing the game.
‘‘That’s largely because as a country we have not invested in the amateur game.’’
Hart recalled a speech he made in 1995 in which he warned the biggest challenge of professionalism was ensuring the money trickled down to the amateur game, lest it be destroyed.
‘‘That’s what has happened and will continue to happen. I’m really worried about where we are with the game when you see the numbers dropping off in secondary schools. It’s not because of professionalism, it’s the game itself that is struggling.
‘‘The physicality of the game is turning people away. It’s a really difficult game to play and what people see at the top is what they see through the age-groups.
‘‘We need a step change to say let’s build participation, and have a participation stream and a high performance stream, and make sure we broaden our horizons.’’
Hart believes the modern game is too complicated and too physical to have broad appeal in the junior ranks and that schools should look closer at the abbreviated form of the sport.
‘‘We’ve got to take the physicality down, bring in skill and let kids enjoy it. If our schools are really keen on participation they should be looking at sevens.’’
Plenty to chew over. At all levels of the code.