New Zealand Rugby’s new chief executive Mark Robinson is concerned for the Pacific nations after the All Blacks handed out a 92-7 scalding to Tonga on Saturday.
Robinson, who has taken over the position
from Steve Tew, held his first press conference earlier believes that tier 2
nations are not being allowed to show how good they can be.
“I think we saw on Saturday that it is concerning for the international game to have fixtures like that when we know that Tonga had so much more to offer. How critical if World Rugby wants to be a truly global game, then we need all those tier 2 teams to be as competitive as possible and to be able to grow other Tier 2 unions so that in time more teams can be competing at the World Cup,” he said.
The former All Blacks’ midfielder, who has
also been part of World Rugby committees in the past, has admitted that countries
like New Zealand need to do everything they can to help their neighbours, whom they
often take talented players from.
“The major things that seem to be affecting the unions in the Pacific at the moment relate to accessing the best of their talent and playing the best competitions possible. We can do better on both counts there. They will be conversations we will look to continue,” he added.
The result sent out a message to the rest
of the rugby world that the All Blacks are ready to make an attempt to win a
third successive Webb Ellis Cup.
However, the 85-point mauling is a concern
as the All Blacks face South Africa in their opening World Cup game on
September 21st before facing smaller rugby nations in Italy, Namibia
and Canada, all of which could have similar results to the one the All Blacks
recorded on Saturday which is a worry.
