England rugby coach Clive Woodward oversees a highly professional unit whose impressive World Cup budget extends to a chef and a "vision coach."
Samoa coach John Boe has to make do without his best-known player, who has refused to play at the tournament because he needs to keep earning money at his English club. Both men believe the gulf between the "haves" and "have nots" of world rugby is a problem for the game's governing body, but Woodward is not sure it's any of his business.
"If I was employed by the IRB, yes I would be extremely worried about it and I would be doing something about it -- as it is I'm coaching the England rugby team so there's not a lot I can do about it," said Woodward.
"If I was doing another person's job it would concern me greatly. It isn't my issue but clearly it is an issue and that question should be directed to the International Rugby Board."
England's opening Pool C match is Oct. 12 against impoverished Georgia with Samoa, minus stars including hooker Trevor Leota, also in the pool.
Leota said he would have lost ?25,000 (US$41,600) if he left his Wasps club to play for Samoa at the World Cup.
In August, the Samoan rugby chief executive Phillip Muller warned the IRB that his team would be forced to withdraw from test rugby unless it was given aid.
He said Samoa would lose money by hosting tours, struggled to find money to play abroad and did not have the resources to make the most of television revenue.
Boe acknowledged here that Samoa, a two-time quarterfinalist and the No. 10-ranked team, was perhaps preparing for its last World Cup.
"I do look toward the IRB -- they have a responsibility to foster the global game and I'm sure they won't shirk that responsibility," said Boe. "It's too important. We can't have a World Cup where there's only four or five teams competing so I'm quite hopeful they will help us."
IRB spokesman Chris Rea has denied the governing body is ignoring the issue.
"It is not a question of not being interested, far from it," he said. "There is grave concern but ... we can only do what we are empowered to do."
Critics believe the move to professionalism has led to a greater gulf between nations.
Robinson Cano spent 17 seasons playing in the MLB in front of all kinds of baseball fans, but he said there is something special about his stint with the Mexican Baseball League’s Diablos Rojos. He is not alone. The league last week opened its 100th season, aiming to keep an impressive growth in attendance that began after the national team’s surprise run at the 2023 World Baseball Classic, and is already surpassing some first-division soccer clubs. After finishing third in the 2023 tournament, many casual fans, some of them soccer enthusiasts disappointed after Mexico were eliminated in the first round in the 2022
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
Arne Slot has denied that Darwin Nunez was dropped from Liverpool’s win against West Ham because of a training-ground row with a member of his coaching staff. The Liverpool head coach on Sunday last week said that Nunez was absent from the 2-1 victory at Anfield, having felt unwell during training the day before, although the striker sat behind the substitutes throughout the game. Speculation has been rife that the Uruguay international, whom Slot criticized for his work rate against Wolves and Aston Villa in February, was left out for disciplinary reasons. Asked on Friday to clarify the situation, Slot said: “He
RSS