Vaea Fifita and Shannon Frizell. Photo / Photosport
Vaea Fifita and Shannon Frizell. Photo / Photosport
COMMENT:
The World Cup can't come soon enough.
Here we are, in the middle of winter, in prime rugby territory, yet apart from the odd glimpse, the national sport is very hard to find if – heaven forbid – you get sick of talking heads.
There are people who claimto love the national provincial championship, and many of them may well mean it.
But there are very few stars, very few stories, very little real interest in what has become a dilapidated ode to the past. Meanwhile, Super Rugby is in a death spiral.
All Black tests come and go, many of them part of a Rugby Championship which even the All Blacks are happy to use as a de-prioritised zone.
The Bledisloe Cup might start to matter again one day, but outside of the World Cup, only the grandeur of the Six Nations respects history as something which can shape the future in a meaningful way.
And even the World Cup is full of holes. The All Blacks will engage in an epic battle with the Springboks first up in Japan, before trotting past Canada, Namibia and Italy while they carry their greatest forward – lock Brodie Retallick – along in a sling.
The sum total for New Zealand rugby: there are four matches (at best) which really matter every four years.
But it doesn't have to be this way.
You may have felt sorry for Owen Franks after the All Black team announcement, the great tighthead having run out of steam just as his chance to win a third World Cup was in sight.
Franks epitomises what dedication and preparation can do. But a lack of natural athleticism which his power lifting obscured for so long turned into an insurmountable problem.
That, and a shoulder injury which – despite enthusiastic claims about the power of stem cell treatment – probably isn't quite right.
But I didn't shed a tear for Franks. A man of few words, he took it hard and he took it well. As Franks said, you can't complain, having had the career he has. And he's off to Europe, to make a well-deserved fortune and see a bit of the world no doubt.
Sympathy can be extended to the Pacific Island nations however, and particularly Tonga after the All Blacks' World Cup squad announcement.
Shannon Frizell...Tonga are being robbed. Photo / Photosport
Among those to miss out were Vaea Fifita and Shannon Frizell, who are very Tongan, and others like Ngani Laumape who have Tonga heritage.
Frizell, a junior Tongan football and rugby representative, was 20 when he was lured here on a Tasman development contract.
All-powerful England can sneak a Kiwi like Brad Shields into calculations, but a team like Tonga hasn't got a hope in hell of hanging on to genuine citizens. It's disgraceful.
I can't speak for the individual players, but they are kind of being trafficked out of the World Cup.
The Pacific Island countries are excluded from competitions, and forced to play major tests away from home. They are robbed of any real opportunity to grow and to strengthen their squads properly.
Imagine how good the World Cup could really be, if teams like the All Blacks didn't sideline the PI players by dallying with them. Imagine how good international rugby could be.
There is also the added issue of a player like Charles Piutau being forced out of test rugby because he plays in Europe, an infringement of his rights I would argue.
New Zealand chooses to exclude him, which should give him a case to be available for Tonga.
Bottom line: this should be the last World Cup played under a colonial-mentality menace.
World Rugby needs to get serious about this issue. Fijian, Tongan and Samoan players are lured into the All Blacks' extensive World Cup drift net then booted off the international stage far too easily.
The World Cup would be more of a genuine tournament if Fifita, Frizell and co. had a generous window in which they could switch. The way it is, the World Cup lacks integrity.
As the teams head to Japan, countries like Tonga should start thinking about heading to a court of arbitration. They deserve a lot better, and so do we.
