Bledisloe: Breathe it in

Jason Little | Tuesday, 1 April 2008 9:00 AM |

What a spectacle the fourth Bledisloe Cup will be this year on November 1, in front of a crowd of 90,000 people at Hong Kong Stadium.

Hong Kong has hosted the best annual rugby event, the Hong Kong Sevens, for as long as I can remember, and for those that have attended a Sevens, there won’t be much to remember at all.

It is a weekend of festivities enjoyed in the spirit that is rugby. The benefits will be two-fold – not only are we supporting and growing the game in Asia, but financially it will be a huge windfall for all unions involved. This will only be the start of Bledisloe Tri Nations games being played throughout Asia and United Arab Emirates in the future.

Congratulations to the ARU and Western Force for finally standing up to poor off-field behaviour. It is no surprise there is a correlation between team behaviour and performance and unfortunately the recent results in Australian Rugby have not been good.

Whilst it is never easy to sack someone, Matt Henjak had been given enough last chances. It makes my last nine lives look thin. Above all this, a precedent has been set and a line drawn in the sand. Unfortunately the off-field behaviour of all sporting codes has been sullied. The Wallabies once had a fine off-field reputation and John O’Neill will be keen for that to return very quickly. He has barely been back in the job for nine months and already O’Neill has made a big impression on the game, both domestically and internationally.

First he has disbanded the national competition, Australian Rugby Championships (ARC), after only one season in existence. While showing all the right on-field criteria, after a disastrous domestic season, the Australian Rugby Union (ARU) could not afford to prop up a competition that lost $8 million in three short months. The ARC filled the gap between club and Super 14s rugby, provided an opportunity for young players to show their wares and, best of all, was played as an open, free flowing, spectacular game. This competition showed enough promise that I believe it will come back in the future in a revised format when the ARU is financially secure.

After the Wallabies have given little to the Australian public over the last couple of years, O’Neill has had enough and appointed the first foreign coach in the history of Australian Rugby, and who would have thought he would be from across the Tasman? This strategy is not new to O’Neill as he appointed a foreign coach to the rival sporting icon The Socceroos. Robbie Deans was head and shoulders above the rest as the best candidate and we applaud the decision. We can only hope he will be as successful as O’Neill’s other appointment, Gus Hiddink.

Finally the new Super 14 rules are a breath of fresh air. The players are fitter and more dynamic, making the game much more enjoyable to watch as opposed to last year’s Rugby World Cup.

Jason Little | Tuesday, 1 April 2008 9:00 AM |