CHRIS HEWETT
THINKING ALLOWED
EVERY underdog has its day, as Daniel Dubois reminded us in knocking an entire cathedral’s worth of bells out of Anthony Joshua in London – or, as the capital city is now sycophanticallyknown by those who make the biggest bucks from the fight game, Riyadh-on-Thames.
Fifteen-man rugby is no stranger to the breed. Fiji, deliberately marginalised despite their gift for lighting up the sport, are pretty much defined by the U-word, having been underfunded, undervalued and underexposed by the governing class, in significant part because they have never possessed the financial muscle – the only muscle missing from their armoury – to buy their way out of the underclass.
This may be about to change for the better. We are a little over 20 months from the launch of the long-threatened, hotly-debated and nakedly elitist Nations Championship, which will give the traditional union powers and a small handful of arrivistes a heaven-sent opportunity to entrench their privilege by playing high-profile matches amongst themselves, without having to dirty their hands with the great unwashed.
As things stand, we know for sure that the Six Nations teams, together with the Rugby Championship quartet, will participate. Which leaves room for two more. Japan, awash with money by rugby standards and blessed with a big enough potential audience to give the come-on to every broadcaster in the sports market, are racing certainties to fill one of the slots, while those most in the know assume that Fiji – yes, little old Fiji – will also make the roster.
That assumption gained momentum last weekend when the islanders stuck 40 points on the Japanese in Higashiosaka to win a sixth Pacific title and secure a single-digit spot in the Test rankings, knocking the poor old Wallabies, whom they beat at last year’s World Cup, down to 10th. Pure logic and simple justice would suggest that the ninth-best team on the planet should be included in a 12-strong tournament marketed as a crème-dela-crème event, so that should be that. Right?
Er…up to a point, Lord Copper. Rugby may be many things, most of them good, but it has never been logical – the lawbook, with its vast array of adjustments and variations, would have had Aristotle himself wondering if he was barking up the wrong tree – and is rarely seen as just. If it were, the All Blacks would have played a dozen full-cap internationals in Fiji down the decades, as opposed to none. Especially as they have only to roll out of bed to find themselves in Suva or Lautoka.
“The ninth-best team on the planet should be included in a 12-strong event for world’s finest”
The sceptics amongst us cannot help harbouring a suspicion or two about the final make-up of the Nations Championship, on the grounds that there has been no confirmation of Fiji’s place despite two significant steps forward: their surge at last year’s global gathering – they might well have beaten England in a tight quarter-final and would probably have done had a No.10 as organised as Caleb Muntz been fit to run the show for them – and the upping of their off-field act under pressure from World Rugby, which reinstated them to council status a couple of months ago.
Is it possible that some movers and shakers on the non-governing governing body are still seeking a way to fast-track the United States at Fiji’s expense? You would have to be a complete mug or a recently-arrived Martian to reject the possibility out of hand. A meaningful rugby breakthrough in America ahead of its hosting of the 2031 World Cup would put the NGGB in dreamland. Should the Eagles still be 19th in the rankings when that tournament kicks off, they’ll be talking “nightmare scenario” instead.
In fairness to the NGGB – not a sentence often spotted in this corner of the paper – you can understand their unease when it comes to Fijian rugby, where political interference in the running of the sport is too often the rule rather than the exception, not least when the generals are chucking their epaulettes around. The islanders may have committed themselves to a new constitution and governance structure, but we still need to see if it works. Fingers crossed and all that.
In a perfect world, the Nations Championship would be less exclusive and more egalitarian from the get-go. In this imperfect one, Fiji’s presence in the top echelon would at least strike a blow for the dispossessed and might count for even more if the competing nations embrace a proper revenue-sharing arrangement, inclusive of gate money, thereby making it possible for the islanders to play all their home fixtures at home. If that sounds wildly radical, so much the better. It’s not as if decades of self-serving conservatism have done the game any favours.
Perhaps there will be more clarity about the Nations Championship line-up when the NGGB elections for chair and executive are done and dusted in a few weeks’ time. Until then, Fiji will almost certainly remain favourites for one of the two “invitee” spots. But let’s not count our chickens, or theirs. Anthony Joshua was the bookies’ favourite too. Look what happened to him.
