Lackluster performance from the Northern Hemisphere
This year seems to have been a slow one for Rugby as the teams of England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales all gave sleepy performances. With the passage of time the performance of all four teams has seen a steady decline to the extent that now it does
not make sense to invest time and money into watching them play. Delivering one poor performance after another year after year seems to have become their team mantra and yet hundreds of fans pour into stadiums to watch their excruciatingly uninspiring performances
just due to the sheer lack of alternate entertainments.
The All Blacks seem to steamroll them with their eyes closed. It is almost laughable that Wales are up against them in the year’s final test match when one considers that Wales haven’t won against the All Blacks in decades. It was quite a sham on their
part to even hold a crisis meeting after the draw with Fiji last weekend since no one expected them to win anyway. It would have made more sense for Fiji to hold the talks for they seem to have drawn against a team that is now considered to be at the very
bottom of the Rugby food chain.
It would seem that the only games that still manage to arouse some enthusiasm and excitement in the public are those against France. However, the Lions too have had a history of delivering excellent performances. They could breathe life back into Rugby
if they were made to fight the All Blacks for that would truly be a battle between equals. For once, the All Blacks wouldn’t be so sure of winning a match even before they had stepped onto the field. However since this can’t happen, it seems that the rugby
tours will continue in this same lifeless fashion for the next two decades till they fizzle out entirely. A point will come at which the rugby organizers would see the light of reason and would realize the absolute pointlessness of making one excellent team
repeatedly play against a bunch of inept opponents. Controversies regarding the player’s record test appearances and point’s records seem to have become much more fascinating than the games themselves.
The general decline in the quality of individual players in the aforementioned four teams as well as in the overall level of organization in the sport seems to be the reason behind the decline in player performance. However it does not seem likely
that these issues of strategic importance shall be dealt with anytime soon. Fans can only keep their fingers crossed and pray that Wales decides to buckle up and at least attempt at losing by a decent margin in the upcoming match against the All Blacks. But
in Rugby players and coaches never do seem to learn from their mistakes. For instance in spite of ample evidence that appointing De Villiers as the Springboks team coach was a tragic mistake, we hear that he continues to hold on to his post!
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