Wynne Gray: World Cup a till-ringer that dominates landscape

Is the World Cup good for rugby? Is it helping New Zealand rugby?

On the plus side it is a great rugby occasion and it brings in millions of dollars for the International Rugby Board, which then distributes that to developing rugby countries.

It is a gauge for world rugby supremacy and a focal point for the global rugby community.

But as the fifth tournament beckons you have to wonder whether it is a revenue collection exercise and a competition that shows on a certain day one side is the best in the world.

There is likely to be an upset or two, but forecasting the last eight is not like landing on Mars.

My problem, from a New Zealand and All Blacks perspective, is this: for the best part of two years after a World Cup the nation talks about settling down after the tournament and for the two years before it, we are bedding-in players, styles and ideas.

Everything revolves around the World Cup, it hangs like a great axe over this nation because major tours have disappeared.

We are seeing it now with the All Blacks using their three internationals in June as "building blocks" for the tournament. They claim they have no option, and you can see their point.

They have to rotate selections to keep a squad fresh, to check form, to try styles, ideas and theories, because the entire 2003 rugby agenda is geared towards the World Cup.

But it does devalue the merit of preceding test matches, which should be the best against the best. I would rather see an emphasis on every test than the pre-occupation with one tournament.

The World Cup is promoted as a spectacle of sport and there is much to enjoy. But in terms of rugby challenges, the All Blacks might only meet three top nations if they make it to the final, because through the vagaries of the draw top countries often avoid one another.

Rugby needs a proper world ranking order, not the World Cup result or the computer-generated gradings touted as the answer at the moment.

To achieve a better idea about a global order of merit there should be regular tests between top nations, not the sort of hiatus we had with England's trips to New Zealand.

There need to be regular home and away tests among the top-tier countries, internationals which would go towards annual ratings and prizemoney. That would offer the incentive for the players, develop an order of merit and create compelling games for spectators.

Rugby's world order probably alters several times inside the four-yearly boundaries of the World Cup.

That tournament should remain a rugby gala, where the second-tier countries and below compete for promotion to the big league.

When the World Cup began in 1987, it was an event which fed rugby's soul. It was an extension of the tours that still existed. Foes and friends met in a celebration of past and present sporting deeds.

Now that mingling is reduced. The event is a business, a professional assignment for sporting corporations seeking four results-victories in their pool, quarter, semi and final.

It appears England are due in New Zealand again next year. That underlines the inconsistent path of the IRB's schedules, the need for some concerted programme and world-ranking system.