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Dublin: 8 °C Friday 24 May, 2013

Poll: Can the IRB’s treatment of the smaller nations at the World Cup be justified?

The organisation has come under criticism for its treatment of smaller nations recently.

Some Samoans believe the extra time Wales had to recover between matches made a difference when the two sides met.
Some Samoans believe the extra time Wales had to recover between matches made a difference when the two sides met.

THERE HAS BEEN much debate of late over the supposedly preferential treatment that the IRB are giving to the top tier nations at the Rugby World Cup.

There has been many vocal critics of the current playing schedule, including Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu, who believe the smaller nations are being treated unfairly.

The main issue of contention arises from the fact that the IRB have seemingly bowed to pressure from TV companies and allowed the bigger nations’ matches to be screened solely at weekends – a situation that means the smaller nations often have less time in between games to recover, as the schedule is designed to suit the bigger sides.

There is also a counter-argument, which sugests that, given how the IRB devotes a considerable portion of their TV revenue to develop the sport in these smaller nations, the end justifies the means.

With all this in mind, do you think the the manner in which the IRB are treating the smaller nations is justifiable?


Poll Results:





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Comments (2 Comments)

  • There’s merits for both arguments – that giving the larger nations weekend matches is financially of greater benefit to the IRB, and that the fixtures are unfair on the smaller nations, but it is the very nature of seedings to give the larger, more highly rated teams a better chance by pitting them against the lower rated ones (which is why you’ll almost never find the south africans, new zealanders and australians sharing a pool).

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  • Where’s the option for, “if they were worth their salt they’d be well able to play 3 games over an 11 day period”? The U-20 world championship asks teams to turn around much quicker and there’s not much noise of discontent there.

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