How money talked loudest

By BRONWYN SELL in Dublin

It was a bitter confrontation under a gloomy Dublin sky. New Zealand watched disbelieving and bleary-eyed from the other side of the world as Australia snatched the Rugby World Cup away.

It was the 1991 cup semi-final at historic Lansdowne Rd, the only time until yesterday that New Zealand has lost at rugby in Dublin.

Then, as now, it was a tough loss to accept. But then we could at least understand what went wrong. The whole sorry game could be played on video over and over. Every pass, every tackle was analysed.

New Zealand's return to the Irish capital this week was as underdog in a vastly different match. The code and foe were the same but the game was played in secret.

The players, the council of the International Rugby Board, were men past their prime rugby days dressed in dark suits and wearing old school rugby ties. Dilapidated Lansdowne Rd gave way to the boardroom of the characterless IRB headquarters in stately St Stephen's Green. This battle had no spectators and no referee, and the rules were fuzzy.

The Australian and New Zealand teams were each given one hour to sell their cases to the 16 other council members. The New Zealanders, lawyers Rob Fisher and Tim Gresson, had only an outside chance of upsetting the strong financial arguments of the Australians - solicitor and former banker John O'Neill and accountant Bob Tuckey.

The cold hard facts, namely the £10 million ($32.4 million) profit Australia could deliver without New Zealand, were against them.

Fisher and Gresson knew their best argument was sentimental. They talked about what was best for promoting the world game. The traditions of grass-roots rugby. Keeping the small nations involved. The world in union.

To buy time the New Zealanders had forced council chairman Vernon Pugh to delay the council vote for 24 hours, hinting at a legal threat they knew they were unlikely to carry out.

Chairman Murray McCaw, chief executive David Rutherford and rugby general manager Steve Tew circled St Stephen's Green talking up their case.

But it wasn't enough. Michelle Treacy, the IRB's assistant communications director, emerged at 11.45am Dublin time with a pile of media statements.

"Australia. Sole host," was all she said, then turned and walked back inside.

The IRB rebuked the NZRFU for its "consistent failures" and "wholly inappropriate behaviour" after the Rugby World Cup Ltd had made generous accommodations to meet New Zealand's problems.

There was just a press release emailed around the world. There was no press conference, no media interviews, no explanation.

Like the 1991 loss, this will be remembered and analysed in New Zealand for years to come.