DIEHARD
16-10-07, 08:13 AM
Kiwis make World Cup a tough sell
ARL chief executive Geoff Carr agreed Australia's demolition of New Zealand in Sunday's Test was hardly a glowing advertisement for next year's World Cup.
The admission came as organisers of the tournament, which begins on October 26 with 18 matches in Queensland, NSW, Victoria and the ACT, announced tickets would go on sale on November 7.
Carr said it was important for the Kiwis put Sunday's loss behind them and focus on making amends on their four-Test tour of Britain and France, plus next year's Centenary Test against Australia in the autumn.
"It wasn't an ideal result for the World Cup but the New Zealand team is too good a team to carry that perception through," Carr said.
"It's important what they do in the UK. And if they have a good tour over there, they will be super competitive on May 9 (Centenary Test), and this game gets pushed into the background.
"It's a bit like the rugby World Cup. The two teams playing in the final, one team beat the other by 36 points a month ago. Things like that tend to happen in our sport if you have an off day."
The game at the international level has always suffered from the perception that other countries are making up the numbers behind Australia, a notion hard to argue after the Kangaroos tore apart the second-ranked Kiwis in Wellington to win 58-0.
The Kangaroos piled on 11 unanswered tries to eclipse New Zealand's previous worst defeat at home when beaten 32-2 in Auckland in 1912.
Making the result worse was the fact Australia was down on troops and eight new Test players were blooded.
That prompted NZRL chairman Andrew Chalmers to comment before the game that the understrength Kangaroos were vulnerable.
"He was probably entitled to say that before the game because we went with so many debutants," Carr said.
"But the other thing in our favour was we had eight players who had played in the grand final only a couple of weeks earlier. Our blokes were match-fit so we had a lot going for us."
The Kiwis were further hamstrung when centre Steve Matai was sent off in the 24th minute for an ugly high shot that knocked out centre Mark Gasnier and winger Luke Covell left the field with a dislocated elbow.
They were also missing big guns in Sonny Bill Williams and Benji Marshall but that didn't excuse the team's performance.
Carr is confident things will turn around, pointing to the fact it was only two years ago that New Zealand defeated Australia 24-0 in the final of the Tri-Nations series.
"My view was that it was an aberration," Carr said. "Every team can have an off day and they just didn't handle the ball well and they had a player sent off. It was just a one-off.
"When you look at their record over the last couple of years, they were Tri-Nations champion in 2005 and in 2006 they were only beaten in extra time. They just didn't play anywhere near to their ability."
New Zealand might struggle to turn things around immediately as Matai (shoulder), Covell (elbow) and fullback Krisnan Inu (shoulder) have been ruled out of the touring party, replaced by Warriors' utility Lance Hohaia and Sydney Roosters winger Shaun Kenny-Dowall.
http://www.foxsports.com.au
ARL chief executive Geoff Carr agreed Australia's demolition of New Zealand in Sunday's Test was hardly a glowing advertisement for next year's World Cup.
The admission came as organisers of the tournament, which begins on October 26 with 18 matches in Queensland, NSW, Victoria and the ACT, announced tickets would go on sale on November 7.
Carr said it was important for the Kiwis put Sunday's loss behind them and focus on making amends on their four-Test tour of Britain and France, plus next year's Centenary Test against Australia in the autumn.
"It wasn't an ideal result for the World Cup but the New Zealand team is too good a team to carry that perception through," Carr said.
"It's important what they do in the UK. And if they have a good tour over there, they will be super competitive on May 9 (Centenary Test), and this game gets pushed into the background.
"It's a bit like the rugby World Cup. The two teams playing in the final, one team beat the other by 36 points a month ago. Things like that tend to happen in our sport if you have an off day."
The game at the international level has always suffered from the perception that other countries are making up the numbers behind Australia, a notion hard to argue after the Kangaroos tore apart the second-ranked Kiwis in Wellington to win 58-0.
The Kangaroos piled on 11 unanswered tries to eclipse New Zealand's previous worst defeat at home when beaten 32-2 in Auckland in 1912.
Making the result worse was the fact Australia was down on troops and eight new Test players were blooded.
That prompted NZRL chairman Andrew Chalmers to comment before the game that the understrength Kangaroos were vulnerable.
"He was probably entitled to say that before the game because we went with so many debutants," Carr said.
"But the other thing in our favour was we had eight players who had played in the grand final only a couple of weeks earlier. Our blokes were match-fit so we had a lot going for us."
The Kiwis were further hamstrung when centre Steve Matai was sent off in the 24th minute for an ugly high shot that knocked out centre Mark Gasnier and winger Luke Covell left the field with a dislocated elbow.
They were also missing big guns in Sonny Bill Williams and Benji Marshall but that didn't excuse the team's performance.
Carr is confident things will turn around, pointing to the fact it was only two years ago that New Zealand defeated Australia 24-0 in the final of the Tri-Nations series.
"My view was that it was an aberration," Carr said. "Every team can have an off day and they just didn't handle the ball well and they had a player sent off. It was just a one-off.
"When you look at their record over the last couple of years, they were Tri-Nations champion in 2005 and in 2006 they were only beaten in extra time. They just didn't play anywhere near to their ability."
New Zealand might struggle to turn things around immediately as Matai (shoulder), Covell (elbow) and fullback Krisnan Inu (shoulder) have been ruled out of the touring party, replaced by Warriors' utility Lance Hohaia and Sydney Roosters winger Shaun Kenny-Dowall.
http://www.foxsports.com.au