Smaller teams won’t stand a chance

I HEARD somebody on radio the other day arguing that the “success” of some smaller teams at the ongoing 48-team FIFA World Cup makes the case for the enlarged 24 team Rugby World Cup next year. I’m not sure. You are comparing apples and pears. Yes it was great o witness world umber two Spain eing held to a 0-0raw by ‘mighty’ ape Verde (World anked 67) – rug-y’s exact equivaent would be Chiese Taipei forcing draw with the All lacks – and the iny Atlantic island rew their other wo games to qualiy for the round of 2. As have Bosnia nd Herzegovina world ranked 4 – with rugby’s quivalent being ingapore. Wonderul stories. Rugby offers no ncouragement nd little honour for the true minnows. Next year Hong Kong will be slaughtered by New Zealand and Australia; once competitive Romania will be taken apart by South Africa and Zimbabwe will find it incredibly tough against England and Wales and probably Tonga as well if the islanders can field a properly representative team.

Football and rugby are very different in their capacity to manufacture genuinely shock results on the world stage. I remain sceptical of the next year’s enlarged Rugby World Cup.