Rugby World Cup: Hitting the ground running

Wales have been one of four sides who have embraced running rugby at this World Cup. Photo / Getty Images

Rugby could be on the verge of a renaissance now that creativity and enterprise have emerged as the key Rugby World Cup characteristics. All those fears that defence and kicking would reign supreme as they did four years ago have proven unfounded. Rugby is dancing to a new beat. Pass and catch has taken off - it is the new bible of world rugby.

Those who didn't embrace it have gone home. It would have been a travesty had England progressed beyond the quarter-finals. Forget all the colonial histrionics about hating them from way back - they just weren't a team on whom the game could be grown.

Their basic skills were poor and rugby would have been dragged back into the Dark Ages had they won. South Africa paid a similar price. Maybe a lenient referee didn't help their cause at the breakdown but, when they come to review how it was they had so much possession and didn't score against Australia, all roads will lead back to their lack of manipulation and inability to exploit space.

Argentina are heroically physical and wonderfully resilient. Expansive they are not and, without the ability to play wider, they will struggle to beat the best. Scotland were sent packing as a consequence of not being able to score a try and even Samoa might wonder why they were so keen on the pick and drive when they are much more effective with ball in hand.

The pity is that Ireland had to be lost - they have been a longer term convert to rugby's new religion but they can't really complain. Wales were better not only on the day, they look a side better equipped for the future.

And what a future the sport might now have. The game has potential to fulfil its objectives of becoming truly global if this weekend and next can deliver more thrilling rugby. The four semifinalists have progressed because they are the strongest sides with the ball. Brutal defence and accurate kicking are part of the package - not one of the last four, however, has lived by those traits alone.

The artistry of Dimitri Yachvili, Morgan Parra and Maxime Mermoz ultimately undid England. It was the speed and vision of Mike Phillips combined with the raw running power of Jamie Roberts, George North and Leigh Halfpenny that the Irish couldn't deal with.

The Wallabies scored the only try of their quarter-final and were breathtakingly brave in trusting their skills to relieve the pressure. They are running rugby's biggest believers.

While even All Black coach Graham Henry - a true disciple of pass and run - was preaching caution ahead of today's game, Will Genia, Australia's magician, felt his team knew no other way to play.

"We've got to put ourselves in a position where we can play rather than looking to defend for the whole game," he said. "We want to play to our strengths, which is obviously our attacking style of running rugby. We pretty much won that [quarter-final against South Africa] on sheer guts and character. But if we play like that against the All Blacks, they'll put us away. We've got to make sure we execute a lot better."

Rugby so desperately needs to be at its best at World Cups. The consequences otherwise are dire. The 2007 World Cup had drama but virtually no spectacle. Who would watch a replay of that final?

In fact, the last World Cup could be reduced to Wales versus Fiji, New Zealand versus France and Tonga versus South Africa - the rest can be biffed. It was so devoid of imagination and inspiration that the IRB fast-tracked plans to introduce the ill-fated Experimental Law Variations.

Well-intentioned as the ELVs were, so botched was the application that what we got was split rules in the two hemispheres and an entirely mangled picture that led to 2009 being the worst on record.

It took until November for light at the end of the tunnel. The All Blacks took the brave step of reintroducing the counter-attack - it was risky given the way the rules were set up to give the ball back to the defending team, but a risk they felt they had to take as the kick-and-chase template was rendering even Richie McCaw ineffective.

"I think he [McCaw] finds the rules frustrating," said Henry before the All Blacks played their best game in a year when they stuffed France in Marseille. "When it turns into a game of tennis, he's the net. He can't play when he's the net. He can only play when he's the ball. The game has changed to the extent he doesn't get on the ball as much as he used to."

The revolution began in the south of France and could make its most significant gains in the next two weeks. Imagine two semifinals where the tension is put to one side and the ball is moved out of the contact zone. Imagine the effect this could have on winning new fans, new sponsors and bigger broadcast deals. Imagine how inspiring it could be to see rugby that is as elegant as it is feral.

Wales, France, Australia and New Zealand - they are the choice of the romantic. These four can show that skill, pace and adventure can triumph.