All black day for New Zealand

The very public and sometimes nasty spat between New Zealand and Australian rugby, with the International Board either caught in the middle or acting as referee, concluded in Dublin yesterday with the governing body's decision to award the 2003 Rugby World Cup solely to Australia.

The ramifications will be immense, possibly even for Ireland, but nobody knows to what extent.

Whatever spins the two rival antipodean countries put on it, there's little doubt the New Zealand union was at least out-manoeuvred to some degree by their Australian counterparts.

Where New Zealand baulked over complying with the Rugby World Cup's insistence that the stadiums be 100 per cent clean when declining to sign the sub-host agreement by the March 8th deadline, Australia put together a strong bid to ensure the overwhelming support of the 21-strong IB council when they voted on the matter yesterday.

Thus far the wrath of New Zealand rugby people, i.e. all of New Zealand, has mostly been directed at Australia but increasingly one suspects, they've already started to look for scapegoats and you wouldn't have swapped places with the NZRFU chairman Murray McCaw or the CEO David Rutherford yesterday.

Amid much nervous smiles the two men attempted to put a brave face on such a body blow, as severe as any of their last three failed attempts to actually win the World Cup, making conciliatory gestures towards the IB and the Australians, in wishing them well when hosting the tournament.

Yet it was clear they privately feared the worst when returning home after what must have been an exhaustive round of lobbying this past week in trying to salvage their sub-hosting arrangement. The thought occurred that they might need bodyguards on returning home, for heads are sure to roll in light of this saga.

Occasionally their words betrayed a hint of bitterness. "Money has won the day," maintained McCaw. "This is a sad day for international rugby. We have worked as hard as is humanly possible to be involved in the tournament. But the IRB council appeared to put a greater emphasis on the extra money the Australian solo bid brought in ahead of the original joint hosting arrangement."

Surprisingly, neither McCaw nor Rutherford admitted to having made any mistakes in the saga. They also preferred to pass no comments on the strongly-worded condemnation of the NZRFU in the IB statement, which accused them of grossly inappropriate behaviour, perhaps in reference to McCaw's public outburst at the IB chairman Vernon Pugh.

The "crux of the matter", McCaw maintained was the "misunderstanding" which led to the New Zealand union not realising the full extent of the demand for 100 per cent clean stadiums until March 1st, just a week short of the deadline for signing the sub-hosting agreement.

McCaw also warned this could be an ominous day for other rugby playing countries with smaller economies, such as Ireland, but inevitably the Australian chief executive John O'Neill dismissed this notion, pointing out the home unions tend to host the finals en bloc no matter who is the main host, and that each World Cup will be treated case by case.

In confirming their decision by statement only (the IB were not to be questioned) the governing body maintained that throughout its deliberations "the (IRB) council has been acutely aware of the implications for rugby wherever it is played and remains sensitive to the impact of this decision upon the game in New Zealand, but it was left with no alternative.

"Generous accommodations made by RWCL to meet the needs and problems of the NZRFU were repaid with consistent failures and wholly inappropriate behaviour. Despite this, the council determined to give full and fair hearing to New Zealand's position and to its most recent submissions. However, the outstanding Australian proposal held an attraction, a professionalism and a logic which were irresistible."

O'Neill confirmed the Australians intend launching the competition - complete with match schedule and venues - within a month.

The 48-game tournament is scheduled to start in October next year. In Melbourne alone, the Colonial Stadium and Melbourne Cricket Ground boast a combined capacity approaching 160,000, while Sydney has the 100,000-plus Stadium Australia and Sydney Football Stadium.

"We have been obsessive about hosting this World Cup, and with good reason. World rugby has a great opportunity to stage an event of the highest quality, and the ARU possesses the expertise to do that. The integrity of the tournament is at the front of our thinking. At the same time, there is the chance to provide a great legacy for the game in Australia, both in terms of exposure and financially."

Asked whether he and the Australian Union had in effect pulled a fast one on their New Zealand counterparts, O'Neill responded: "We didn't manufacture this. I wish I was that smart. The reality is that New Zealand were authors of their own destiny."