O'Neill: Why NZ lost out

Australian Rugby Union boss John O'Neill says New Zealand lost next year's World Cup because its rugby officials became too big for their boots.

O'Neill says the New Zealand Rugby Football Union never "philosophically" accepted that it would play the minor role in a co-hosting arrangement to stage the tournament.

"I think the NZRFU didn't ever really accept the fact that they were a sub-host union," he said last night on the Deaker On Sport TV programme.

"They saw themselves fundamentally as on the same level as Australia and that is not suggesting any amount of paternalism or big-brother attitude on the part of Australia.

"What New Zealand was saying was that 'Australia have signed up to a certain set of standards but we want a different set of standards for our half of the tournament'. That was never going to wash."

O'Neill said the International Rugby Board was unhappy with the poor communication between the transtasman unions.

However, those were "periphery issues" in the IRB's final decision last week to grant Australia sole host status.

"The big issue was the integrity of the tournament.

"The IRB, as a world governing body, had to be taken seriously. It wasn't just there to be pushed around and told what to do by a major union.

"It was a defining moment for the governance of world rugby that the IRB overwhelmingly supported our proposal."

O'Neill said the personal criticism of IRB chairman Vernon Pugh by the NZRFU was unprofessional.

He said New Zealand's chances had slipped further when former ARU chairman Ross Turnbull voiced his support for New Zealand's bid.

"I think it stunned people that someone like Ross Turnbull, who seven years ago was the architect of trying to take over the game [when rugby turned professional] was now being rolled out as a rugby statesman. Tactically there were some big mistakes made but at the end of the day, I do think they were around the edges.

"The main game was that the sponsors, broadcasters and stakeholders in the Rugby World Cup were fed up with all of this public bickering."

O'Neill said the IRB had been considering shifting the tournament to the Northern Hemisphere if it was not happy with the Australasian outcome.

"I have no doubt whatsoever that if we hadn't responded quickly and professionally, the World Cup would have ended up almost certainly in France," he said.

France and England are the two countries putting their hand up for the 2007 cup.

"We were aware of that, for some [of] the rumours were just too consistent that France were waiting in the wings.

"If we had stumbled and not come along with a very compelling bid, it would have been lost from our part of the world altogether."

O'Neill confirmed that the All Blacks would be "afforded the esteem and regard they deserve" when the schedule for the tournament was designed.

"They are a drawcard of the tournament and they will be located at venues that fit that description."