ABs RWC loss not all bad

The All Blacks could do New Zealand rugby a favour if they don't win the 2011 World Cup.

Maybe the thought of another four years without the Webb Ellis Trophy will convince the NZRFU hierarchy to change their priorities.

It could help them realise the pitfalls of continuously planning four years ahead in the hope that one day the ABs will win a trophy they haven't won since 1987.

And that by putting just about all their eggs in the one basket they are, in fact, doing more harm than good. It's time the NZRFU focused more on putting its own house in order.

The ABs are, and always will be, their flagship, but they shouldn't be allowed to dominate the landscape to the point that practically everything underneath them stands still while they are showered with gold.

It's good to know that Dan Carter and Richie McCaw will be available for another four years. But is the price being paid for their services a good investment, when you consider the struggles many of our provinces face just to keep their heads above water? If there is any spare money to throw around, wouldn't it be wise to heave some in their direction?

Then there is the Sonny Bill Williams saga.

From what we are hearing, his no doubt lucrative contract with the NZRFU will have clauses which allow him to pursue a boxing career and also play rugby league. Is he really so good a rugby player that he deserves such special treatment and, even if he was, should he be given it? To my mind, the answer to both is a resounding no.

Sir Brian Lochore coached the ABs when they won the inaugural World Cup in 1987 and, in case you need reminding, they haven't won it since.

And it is BJ who made some pertinent comments in his authorised biography Lochore, about the importance of the NZRFU ensuring everything possible was done to keep rugby in the smaller unions in a healthy state.

"There are some people in rugby administration who conveniently forget that unions like Wairarapa-Bush are the very grassroots of our game," Lochore said.

"Go back 30 years and you see that many, many of the All Blacks in the period since then have started their rugby in towns like Masterton, Foxton or Methven. They are the breeding grounds for a lot of our top rugby players and always will be. If the sport dies there it will die everywhere."

Wairarapa United football coach Phil Keinzley made no bones about his feelings for the idiots who drove a vehicle on to the Queen Elizabeth Park oval pitch early last Saturday morning, leaving big ruts on the playing surface required for his team's important central league match against Miramar Rangers the following day.

"They should be castrated ... even that would be too good for them," an angry Keinzley said. "Who would get any thrills of doing something like that?"

Early indications were the damage to the grounds could see the game called off but some excellent repair work by the Recreational Services Ltd team saved the day and had Keinzley singing their praises. "They were brilliant," he said.

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