How the World Cup is shaping
The twelve best
World Rugby really must stop claiming ‘the twelve best teams in world rugby’ will come together in New Zealand.
Their own admirable strategy proves it is quite incorrect. Otherwise, how could Fiji (ranked 21st) and Japan (13th) be in attendance?
Ireland rank five places higher than Japan but have to watch on from home. That is the penalty everyone had to accept in the drive to widen the scope of women’s rugby across the globe.
Filling in time
Squads needed to get to their destination early to fight off any lingering jet-lag. Then the problem was to fill the time between arrival and kick-off.
One innovation is for squads to meet up in a form of limited combat. South Africa’s head coach Stanley Raubenheimer has arranged with the Scottish management for the two teams to play a training match on 1 October. He also revealed that he had told his squad back in Cape Town what his choices were for Round One of the RWC versus France. The game against Scotland will be no holds barred. On the sore point of injuries he said ‘we have 32 players.’
Weekend to Weekend
The organisers have wisely resisted the temptation to place games mid-week. That could shorten the longest RWC schedule yet devised, but risked running counter to the overwhelming need to safeguard players’ well-being.
So we will get used to ‘triple-deckers’, as on the first day, Saturday 8 October:
France v South Africa
England v Fiji
New Zealand v Australia
That means a major challenge for European viewers, if they plan to watch every game. Many may prefer to stick their own team’s time-slot; those who value their sleep may make do with play-backs. Otherwise matchsticks may be the only answer.
Ticketing:
Following the pattern of the 2017 RWC, the match involving the host nation is placed third of the triple-decker of matches. So the Black Ferns face the Wallaroos at 19.15 local time after two other matches have occupied the less advantageous starting times of 14.15 and 16.45.
The effect in Dublin was to leave the UCD Bowl largely empty for the opening game involving the then holders England versus Spain. I pointed out the weakness of the ticketing system then in place (https://womensrugbydata.com/wrwc2017-the-aftermath). TV spectators were confused and upset to see all the empty seats when they had been informed it was ‘All Seats Sold’ – but only for the third game of the day involving the Irish team.
How the three short-odds favourites line up
England’s main strength is up front; the backs, minus Amber Reed and Mo Hunt, are left with bags of talent but much less experience. New Zealand are the other way around, though some of the biggest names in the backs have limited experience in 15s. On balance France resemble England; plenty of know-how up front, combined with the need to include relative youngsters out behind.
On 29 September the odds looked like this: England 1/2; NZ 15/8; France 10/1. The rest some distance behind, led by Canada at 22/1.
