KEY POINTS:
So Syd Millar, head of the International Rugby Board, thinks the media - among others - have been off-beam about the IRB's lack of action regarding Pacific Islands rugby.
He also says there is little that can be done about the Argentina problem other than to find a way to get Argentina into the South African competition ahead of possible entry to the Tri-Nations.
Millar is still an imposing figure even all these years after he was a respected prop for Ireland and the Lions. He also has the gift of the gab.
On Islands rugby, he told the media that the IRB expected to make about US$161 million from the Rugby World Cup and would spend more than US$41 million of that on performance initiatives between tournaments - including boosting spending in the Pacific.
"We've been criticised for doing nothing in the Islands. We've put an enormous amount of money into the islands to produce tournaments, they have a provincial tournament now going, they have a Six Nations going, they have a huge amount of money for performance initiatives and that is why we must generate money from the Rugby World Cup - it's our only cash card that goes back into rugby," he said.
There is no doubt the IRB - and, for that matter the NZRU - are doing more to foster Islands rugby. It's just that the results aren't there.
Many will say the initiatives need time - and maybe that's right. But it takes only a very quick look at the international rugby scene to figure out that the professional era has been bad - very bad - for Pacific Islands and Argentinian rugby and that there doesn't seem to be a definitive answer in sight.
Think back to the 1991 World Cup when the Samoan rugby team announced its international presence with a bravura performance at that tournament, toppling Wales.
Sixteen years later, Samoa have not built on that performance. Would they beat Wales in 2007? Probably not.
Why? Because, in a nutshell, their players are attracted elsewhere. Like Europe. In between World Cups (and sometimes even during) Samoan and Island players are often denied the opportunity or choose not to turn out for their country because they are earning big money with the clubs.
The brave new world the IRB has allowed to grow - no, helped to grow - thus has a sting in the tail for the newer rugby nations. Are Fiji stronger or weaker than they were before? Tonga?
Tally the numbers of Pacific Islands players plying their trade in the UK and Europe. Then do a count of those players blocked from playing for their country when the threat of their pay cheque is waved at them.
Those two numbers are very different. New Zealand is also not without responsibility, although the number of Pacific Islands players who end up in the All Blacks is exaggerated by a Northern Hemisphere media who conveniently overlook the fact that New Zealand is a huge Polynesian wellspring and that the vast majority of Islanders in the All Blacks have been born-raised-schooled here.
The British ability to absorb former colonials into their sporting teams (stand up Kevin Pietersen of the England cricket team and too many rugby examples to mention) is conveniently overlooked.
The lure of the big dollars and the big time is understandably dominant for most Island players and most Argentinians. Their players are similarly locked into the European season and are not available for many or most of their internationals - hence the plan to build them their own domestic competition and/or easing them into South Africa and the Tri-Nations.
Worthy, absolutely worthy ideas. But the fact remains that the northern clubs have first call and a powerful hold over those players - not like New Zealand, where the NZRU holds sway.
Which leads to the inescapable conclusion that the IRB and Dr Syd Millar do not actually have control over the game they administer.
Last week's meeting in Auckland had the smell of a PR exercise about it - all good mates; of course Eden Park's OK for the 2011 World Cup; we are doing our bit in the Islands; we are progressing on Argentina; and we are having a big look at the laws of the game.
Rugby is facing its biggest challenge since the game went professional. Its complex laws, boredom from games dulled by the latter, player burnout, rotation, an unhealthy emphasis on the World Cup and many more issues are burning a big hole in the game's stature right now.
Yet the IRB is essentially powerless to orchestrate the necessary ascension of some of its growing powers in the game.
Maybe the media have been guilty of over-roasting the IRB and under-stating changes. But, just as in corporate life, it's all about results. Hold all the press conferences and bacon and egg breakfasts you want. It comes back to results.
Sixteen years after Samoa beat Wales, I bet I know what Samoa thinks the results are.
