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Rugby World Cup 2015: Why a Plate Competition Would Enhance the World Cup
Published: October 28, 2015
New Zealand and Australia meet at Twickenham in the World Cup final, with both looking for a third title and the All Blacks bidding to become the first back-to-back world champions.
The cut and thrust of the knockout stages has been enthralling; the best ever, many have said.
All of which makes those less nerve-shredding days of watching Canada and Italy trade blows, Japan making the whole world fall in love with their rugby team or Georgia defying Tonga at a sun-soaked, raucous Kingsholm, seem like a time long, long ago.
In truth, it feels like we have been watching two separate tournaments.
All things considered, we pretty much ended up with the last eight we knew we would get before a whistle had been blown.
And so perhaps we should be. Watching two different tournaments, that is.
Already, it’s a good idea—to avoid too many dead rubbers—to award guaranteed qualification for the next big bash to the team finishing in third. It’s what elevated Canada vs. Italy, Tonga vs. Georgia and Japan vs. Samoa to matches of such intensity.
But what if those eight sides who came third and fourth could hang around for another few weeks? What if, in the dead, midweek air between World Cup knockout rounds, we had Wednesday night Plate fixtures to keep the tournament atmosphere crackling?
A Plate tournament this year would have seen England, Fiji, Japan, Samoa, Georgia, Tonga, Italy and Romania play off for the prize.
Stadiums that missed out on World Cup fixtures like Welford Road, Franklin’s Gardens, the AJ Bell Stadium and The Stoop could have hosted games.
You can almost hear the Premiership clubs groaning at the prospect of another three weeks without their best players. Ignore them, they’ve got the RFU by enough...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Rugby Union
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