We have come to realise that Sir Clive Woodward has all the romance of a Japanese whaling boat but his notion that the All Blacks' win over his Lions meant nothing was a step past pragmatism into senility.
"The only time you can really judge teams... is when you get
to a World Cup," he said.
Apart from being self-defeating - why take $30m to develop a team for essentially a meaningless series? - it is offensive to all those who play rugby with the healthy thought that 'this could be my last test'.
The World Cup is now the pinnacle of the sport but it shouldn't be the be-all and end-all.
What is going to provide more compelling drama? The All Blacks trying to complete their second-ever Grand Slam at the end of this year against three competitive teams and Scotland, or the first five weeks of the World Cup where most results have been predetermined.
England has been fooled into thinking the World Cup is more important than it actually is because Sir Clive has told them so.
On the other hand, New Zealanders have been fooled into thinking the World Cup is more important than it actually is because we've been adept at throwing them away.
But more than 100 years of tradition and, excuse the lofty ideal that follows, ethos can't be replaced by a gold-plated ornament.
Do we want a situation like football where you get a whole heap of meaningless international 'friendlies' between tournaments?
No, because rugby cannot afford to use football as a parallel.
Football is a global game. Even qualifying for the tournament is a bridge too far for very good sides.
So at any football World Cup there are at least a dozen sides that genuinely believe they have a chance of winning.
There's a suspense you can never capture at rugby's showpiece, where it remains inconceivable a team outside Australia, England, France, South Africa and New Zealand will win. In effect you're asking for proud rugby nations to treat 3.5 years of rugby as development for an overrated tournament.
Another difference is that mid-World Cup cycle football has fiercely competitive continental championships. The only thing approaching this in rugby is the Six Nations and Tri Nations. Should these be sacrificed on the altar of developing a team for the World Cup, or would it be more sensible to turn these into really meaningful biennial tournaments (in even-numbered years so as not to clash with the World Cup)?
A World Cup victory would be great but there's always the Bledisloe. Now that's a contest.
- HERALD ON SUNDAY
<EM>Dylan Cleaver:</EM> World Cup not as important as we think
We have come to realise that Sir Clive Woodward has all the romance of a Japanese whaling boat but his notion that the All Blacks' win over his Lions meant nothing was a step past pragmatism into senility.
"The only time you can really judge teams... is when you get
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