Chris Rattue: World Cup pigs are flying again

The joint Rugby Union-Government bid to host the 2011 World Cup has hardly been greeted with a wave of optimism.

Most people seem to have waved the whole idea goodbye already.

The public worked out long ago that sport is a money-rules business. Japan and South Africa are a lot bigger than us with more punters to sell the sponsors' products to.

Japan will be seen as an oh-so tempting major new rugby market, and second favourites South Africa are a more favourable highway into European markets. Don't you love this market speak?

We all had our noses rubbed into this big-money truth during the failed bid to co-host the 2003 World Cup, when the high and mighty started scratching each other's eyes out about who would get in to the corporate boxes.

In the end, a common response was that - while disappointed - the IRB and all the other fat cats could stick their World Cup and their adverts and corporate boxes where the sun doesn't shine.

Having been humiliated once, the rank and file isn't really in the mood to be dealt to again.

Healthy cynicism has prevailed - Joe and Jane Blow will refuse to become emotionally involved where their support and loyalty is used as a bargaining chip but doesn't really count in the halls of power.

It should never be forgotten that during the height of the 2003 hosting fiasco, the IRB head - the late Vernon Pugh - couldn't even pop over from Australia to check out our side of the story.

So we have learnt our lessons.

To loosely quote a taxi driver I met recently: "That was a great idea of the Government's to pledge a whole lot of money they'll never have to spend.

"Silly old Trevor Mallard though - he should have made it look even better for Labour and pledged a whole lot more."

To be fair to the union, this is a bit like the great test ticket-scalper hunt. They have to be seen to be doing something.

But the more we witness scenes like those at Loftus Versfeld at the weekend, and the more New Zealanders experience places like Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane and tell their friends about it, the more it becomes clear that our mid-level stadiums just aren't up to today's standards. And Eden Park doesn't just need a touch-up, it needs to be blown up.

If they pull this one off, Messrs Moller, Hobbs and Sports Minister Mallard - if he is still in the hot seat - will go down as dead-set geniuses. In the world market we hardly even qualify as a stall.

Then will come the really hard part, providing world-class stadiums and everything else that is needed to host such a tournament.

About the only note of optimism that I can provide, for those World Cup chasers who may have missed this momentous news, is that there is a gleaming new railway station next to Eden Park.

Of course, there are still hardly any trains passing through.

The Great Sandringham Train Station is our Potemkin village, the term named after the 18th century Russian dude who supposedly created false villages to impress Catherine the Great with prosperity in remote places that were actually in turmoil.

The weighty document Chris Moller carted off to the IRB is yet another Potemkin piece - an illusion of grandeur to hide the truth. But those who actually live in the villages know the score.

The only grey areas they're interested in are those little round discs outside.

They've got their money and time invested wisely - in subscriber TV. They don't actually care whether the World Cup is held in Japan, or the Crimea for that matter.

If it comes here, all well and good. But once bitten, twice shy. A growing section of the public, I suspect, can't be bothered buying in to these high-priced political sports charades any more.