Chris Rattue: A level playing field for cup, but unfairness elsewhere

By CHRIS RATTUE

Maybe the healthiest thing about world rugby is that none of the leading contenders for the World Cup is healthier than the rest.

It makes for an even contest to savour, even if there are only four or five genuine contenders.

The All Blacks side are the latest casualties in many ways. The Crusaders may have stormed through the Super 12 like no one before, and they deserve nothing but admiration, but have we really got All Blacks wunderkinder on our hands?

Apart from Chris Jack, who has emerged as a lock of extraordinary ability, and the new talents of Aaron Mauger and Richard McCaw, the rest are simply the equals, or less than equal, of what England, France, South Africa and Australia have been putting forward over the past few seasons.

You suspect the tri-nations this year and maybe the World Cup next year will come down to a missed penalty, a crucial dropped pass, a drop goal that shaves an upright this way or that.

Alleged world supremacy will come down to an incident here and there, because no country could really claim to be the best right now.

John Mitchell obviously recognised that when he created the holding pen - the four-man add-on thing going on in his squad of 26.

Presumably, it is an encouragement zone for Christian Cullen and Jonah Lomu, maybe even Taine Randell.

Randell deserves to be there. But on form, Cullen and Lomu do not.

Mitchell is a man who relies on extreme scrutiny, and as he has admitted, those two great players do not stand up to analysis at the moment.

But they offer hope. And Mitchell must have surveyed the scene and found a distinct lack of that ingredient.

At their best, Cullen especially but also Lomu, could regularly score against the best defences in the world. With Tana Umaga tied down at centre and unable to influence games as he could on the wing, the All Blacks lack flair and penetration.

That made Cullen and Lomu essential raising agents, even if they are playing as flat as pancakes.

The great thing for the All Blacks is that two of the emerging talents, Jack and McCaw, are in key ball-winning positions. But these days, it is one thing having the ball and another being able to score.

The selection of Cullen and Lomu suggests Mitchell lacks confidence in other supposedly in-form players to break down the sort of defence Australia, England, France and even South Africa might offer.

So if Cullen and Lomu don't fire, where does that leave this side? In trouble, you suspect.

* * *

There is something that just doesn't sit right with the Maori team and its new-found place in terms of All Blacks selections.

Before someone yells "Maori-bashing," this is not an attempt to derail Maori rugby.

It is seen by some as involving racially-selected teams, which is anomalous in our society. But surely life is not that black and white, and it is often better to bend with circumstance (of history in this case) than try to fit every situation into doctrine.

Maori rugby is a fact of life, a source of immense pride to Maori, and the players express a special satisfaction in being part of the teams.

Judging by the support for last year's clash against Australia in Sydney, that backing is far more widespread than just the Maori community.

At the very least, the place Maori rugby has been given by administrators here and overseas offers some belated respect after appalling treatment by a rugby union that, without any subsequent apology, once sent racially-selected teams to South Africa.

But the format of All Blacks selection and the link with the Maori team - there is continual consultation between the All Blacks and Maori selectors and the squads are even named on the same day - has accidentally created a second-class rugby citizen. This citizen is the fringe All Blacks player who isn't Maori.

Mitchell and his fellow selectors have back-up players in mind, and maybe the way the Maori players fare in Australia will have no effect.

But it doesn't come across that way. Maori coach Matt Te Pou openly enthuses that the games are a chance for his players to press their All Blacks claims.

Simply put, the present system means certain fringe players have a vital chance to show their wares in top company when there is no elite rugby available for similar players who have no Maori heritage.

If the selection process is to be seen to be fair, then surely Jerry Collins, Paul Steinmetz and a host of others deserve the same chance as Carlos Spencer, Roger Randle and Co.

The problem seems obvious, the solution not so.