No NZ at World Cup 'inconceivable'

All Blacks assistant coach Wayne Smith. Photo / Getty Images

The All Blacks have branded IRB chief executive Mike Miller's claim a Rugby World Cup could be staged without them as "inconceivable".

NZRU boss Steve Tew last week revealed the $13.2 million hit his organisation will take from this year's tournament could jeopardise the All Blacks' place at the 2015 World Cup.

Miller hit back at Tew's comments in an interview on Radio Sport, saying "everyone is replaceable."

All Blacks assistant coach Wayne Smith this afternoon said it was inconceivable to think of a Rugby World Cup without the All Blacks.

Rugby meant too much to New Zealanders for the All Blacks to pull out of the sport's highest level competition, he said.

He said the quarterfinal against Argentina this weekend was the most pressing issue for the team.

Mr Tew has not stuck to his guns for an overhaul of financial structure behind the Rugby World Cup.

In the Radio Sport interview, Miller said the timing of Tew's comments was "not brilliant" and that the NZRU boss should be aware of the governing body's financial situation.

"He's on the IRB Council, he's been involved in all of the decisions that we've made for the last five or six years, so he knows what's going on. It's the IRB Council that decides where the money goes," Miller said.

"Of course he doesn't talk about the $12m that the NZRU gets from the IRB over the four-year cycle. We know what the issues are, which is why we had a conference on the Economics of the Game earlier this year, which Steve Tew was at.

"The conference said after Rugby World Cup, we'd look at the outcomes and whether we'd need to change the model on the commercial rules, the distribution of funds, and on the timing of the World Cup."

Tew suggested last week that soccer's Fifa World Cup had much more lenient commercial rules, but Miller rejected the idea that All Blacks sponsors that were not associated with the Rugby World Cup couldn't capitalise on the event.

"Have a walk around Auckland if you think that the All Blacks' sponsors aren't still being able to be involved with the All Blacks."

Miller pointed out the money the IRB makes gets distributed to all of the unions, including New Zealand.

"Why did they choose to truncate the Tri-Nations? They didn't have to do that, they could have found another solution. That's not the IRB's doing, that's what they decided to do. They lost money because of that.

"I have huge sympathy for everyone. It's a very tough economic situation at the moment, all of the unions are suffering. We are looking at the issues, we are working with the New Zealand Union, the Australian Union and everyone else and they ultimately will decide whether they get exactly what they want - it depends on whether they can persuade the other council members."