Rugby World Cup: Can the sport rediscover je ne sais quoi?
Sometimes sporting moments transcend the core fanbase. A controversial call, a moment of brilliance or an event off-field; sporting tournaments have a habit of producing something exceptional. And goodness knows rugby needs that now.
A sport that has given us Jonah Lomu, Jonny Wilkinson’s drop goal and Japan’s 2015 victory over the Springboks is in a little bit of bother.
There’s confusion around the game’s future, continued issues with regards to player safety and a number of financial woes which seem to cripple the sport time after time.
Rugby the winner?
So tomorrow, with a Rugby World Cup getting underway at the Stade de France in Paris, just how excited can we be? Well, very.
England go into the tournament at rock bottom, having suffered their first ever loss to a Tier Two nation against Fiji just a fortnight ago.
Head coach Steve Borthwick hasn’t yet reached his first anniversary in the job and could even be ousted from the position depending on the outcome of their four pool games – against Argentina, Japan, Chile and Samoa. They ditched their previous coach Eddie Jones in December 2022 and have been at sixes and sevens ever since.
A coaching line-up without too much international experience is propping up Borthwick, who does himself have Rugby World Cup team management on his CV – notably with a major upset when Japan toppled South Africa in 2015.
The 2003 winners will begin their campaign without captain Owen Farrell – the veteran fly-half banned for a high tackle – and they’ll be without ball-carrier Billy Vunipola for their clash against the Pumas on Saturday.
Do or it
It really is a do or die couple of weeks for England, and that’s worth watching on its own, but the tournament is packed with storylines and sub-plots for players, coaches and fans alike to drool over.
blockbuster
Hosts France have found their flair and, despite the absence of fly-half sensation Romain Ntamack, will surely be there or thereabouts come the final next month.
World No1 side Ireland have prepared without their captain Jonny Sexton due to a recent ban and defending champions South Africa are out to defend their title. Their geographic neighbours Namibia are in their seventh consecutive tournament.
England, as previously stated, and Wales have new coaches and fresh, rather unsuccessful, approaches to the game with neither side heading into their opening matches exactly buoyed with confidence. Borthwick’s England have blamed training, bans and injuries but have been unable to stem the flow of negativity around the side.
Wales, with a returning Warren Gatland, are yet to cement their starting XV, and look light in a number of positions. Fiji, though, for the first time ever, go into the Rugby World Cup as the highest ranked side in their pool.
Rugby talent
Australia have Jones, Argentina have Michael Cheika and the likes of Samoa and Tonga will compete with former New Zealanders and Wallabies in their sides after rule changes bolstered their player pools.
And on the All Blacks, they head into this event off the back of a record loss just a fortnight ago.
Chile appear for the first time, and will be part of the fist ever South American derby at a World Cup – against the Pumas – while Portugal return for the first time since the 1990s. Uruguay’s inclusion makes it a record three nations from South America.
Scotland are on the rise, Japan are flustered, Georgia are eyeing a big-name scalp, Italy might just about come good and we all get underway tomorrow with a blockbuster between France and New Zealand at the Stade de France.
So amidst the doom, gloom and naysayers hovering over and around the sport, there is something to cheer over the next month.
There will be storylines, inevitable peaks and troughs, and undoubtedly a surprise.
Buckle up and take it all in, then, because the next 47 matches could be the perfect formula to help rugby rediscover its je ne sais quoi. And blimey it’s needed.