KEY POINTS:
In some quarters, the rugby malaise is blamed on lingering disappointment about the World Cup. That is one hell of a hangover.
My belief is that a potpourri of factors such as ineffective administration, counter-attractions, the cost of attending games, confusing laws, duplicate styles and average skills have combined to muffle the interest.
The World Cup failure? Nah. It was done and dusted, it was the nadir in a depressing season but that was six months ago. There was no cause to link it to this year's depression until the editorial in the latest edition of the Rugby Almanack crossed my desk.
It capped a week of renewed charm offensive with All Black coach Graham Henry on the soundbite trail and NZRU chief executive Steve Tew featuring in television and radio appearances with lots of gusto and minimal detail.
The forum was over, the annual general meeting was coming into view, the Super 14 was at its midpoint, it was time to win the fans back, time to regain lost impetus.
The Almanack adopted the same strategy with its position on Henry's retention as All Black coach. It was a hollow defence; an obsequious argument which looked as if it owed its thinking to the assistance of the NZRU, which was acknowledged in the foreword.
An array of statistics about the All Blacks' dazzling success in the professional era was produced, plus the observation from former Wallaby skipper John Eales that the World Cup winner was not necessarily the best team in the world, rather the best at the tournament.
Quite so, BUT, the NZRU told the country the World Cup was the sole target for 2007 and then reinforced that judgment by implementing the Cotton Wool Club.
Somehow the editorial linked the All Black coaching debate late last year with the Mains/Hart debates of 1995: "Mains and Henry had the evidence and form, Hart and Deans had the emotion and decibels."
That is a surprising conclusion from a book noted for its accuracy. It suits them to downplay the World Cup loss as only one game when the NZRU had been adamant that success in the tournament was all that mattered.
It was only one game but the entire rugby year had been damaged because of that obsession. And the All Black standards for much of the year were moderate, their selections confusing, their planning flawed.
That hangover is returning. And it will increase if this editorial is an indication of the NZRU's inquiry into the World Cup campaign.
The least the Rugby Union can do is publish that entire document, especially after the way it pleaded for carte blanche in the All Black road to the World Cup. The country assented then, the NZRU should reveal its findings now.
