These pool fixtures will not win any new fans

POOR old World Rugby, the non-governing governing body, has taken a fair old hammering in recent days and weeks. The problem this time? The same problem it had three years ago, at which point it was steadfast in its refusal to acknowledge that it had a problem at all.

As we know to our cost, the pool draw for the 2023 World Cup was made in 2020. It did not take a rugby genius of Antoine Dupont magnitude to work out that this was just a little previous, but as there is precious little genius of any description doing the rounds at the NGGB, the penny was never going to drop immediately with the people earning the big bucks.

Happily, things are finally beginning to move. From now on, the “balls in hat” ceremony will at least take place in the same epoch as the tournament in question, which means we should no longer see the top five nations in the rankings thrown together in the same half of the draw.

But there is a bigger issue. Rugby’s showpiece, shop-window, box-office event is crucial to its financial wellbeing, yet the shortage of truly competitive pool-stage fixtures is unlikely to capture a new audience for the sport.

The line-up for the second weekend of the competition sees New Zealand face the might of Namibia on the Friday night, followed by Samoa-Chile, Wales-Portugal and Ireland-Tonga on the Saturday. If you want to keep up with the try count, use a cricket scoreboard.

The fourth weekend is almost as lopsided: Argentina-Chile and Scotland-Romania on the Saturday, the Wallabies versus Portugal and the Springboks against the Tongans on the Sunday. We must therefore thank heaven for the big one. Fiji-Georgia. Where would we be without it? Apart from in the pub.