Stop all this pandering to Southern Hemisphere

I FOLLOWED with detached amusement as the election campaigns of Sir Bill Beaumont and Agustin Pichot fizzled out amid a tsunami of disinterest from the rugby public.

Even the rugby media failed to capitalise on the situation, probably because of the lack of any real detail in either “manifesto” and also because disentangling club vs country and north vs south interests is a maze in which many may disappear but few may emerge.

Incidentally we would be up in arms if a General Election result announcement was to take as long… why the delay until May 12?

The reality is that money rules the rule making and only when and if the bean counters are convinced any further growth in the game can be justified financially will expansion of the game take place.

Forget any altruistic babbling about developing nations, I don’t think Sky TV et al are interested in an England vs South Pacific international taking place on an ocean island in front of a handful of supporters.

For that matter how many genuine supporters can afford to travel around the world regularly to follow either their club or country playing away in some global competition?

Southern hemisphere rugby is a shambles at provincial and national level and throwing northern hemisphere rugby into their cauldron is not the answer.

The simple fact is that rugby in the northern hemisphere is better supported, more competitive and financially more sound.

The challenge is how to bring the southern hemisphere up to that level. Pandering to the southern hemisphere ills is not the answer, after all the most successful recent example of globalisation is the Covid-19 virus. A suitable benchmark?