Create a weight grade for rugby tournament as one size does not fit all

IT is hardly a month away and the rugby World Cup will kick off in France with the opening match on Sept 8 between New Zealand and France. The former won the Cup three times, the latter is on the hunt for their first.

The other past winners are South Africa, the reigning champion, with three titles, and followed by Australia (2) and England (1).

And they will be battling for further honours at this World Cup.

Interestingly, since the World Cup started in 1987 and co-hosted between New Zealand and Australia, only four countries have won it. And their stranglehold on it would undoubtedly be difficult to upend.

Fiji, much acclaimed for their prowess at Sevens Rugby, an abbreviated version, have yet to make any meaningful impact at the World Cup played in its typical 15 aside format. And this despite the team being in the rugby pantheon of heavyweights in terms of physique.

However, Fiji are the reigning Sevens rugby Olympic Games champions at Tokyo, retaining the title they first won at the 2016 Rio Olympics when rugby, after a hiatus of almost a century, made its comeback.

The average weight of a World Cup player hovers around 110 kilos and towers over 186cm.

At the 2019 tournament, the New Zealand pack was 929 kilos against England’s 920. But France were reputedly the heaviest at 962.

But that’s only the pack of eight forward players, not taking into account the other seven in the backline.

It is the norm a World Cup rugby team of 15 would hit the scales at over 1600 kilos!

In a normal scrummage involving 16 forwards, eight from each opposing pack, in a tussle for the ball, a scientific study has shown that at the point when they engage with each other, “... the average impact of a hit of a scrum is 10,850 newtons. A knockout punch is 3,000 newtons.”

It is said that the England pack in the 2013 season could generate a hit enough to lift a land rover.

With such awesome weight statistics, the game strategies aside, what then of the fate of the Asians with their smaller physique?

It is no wonder that no Asian team has qualified for the World Cup, except Japan, the rugby overlord of Asia, which has a phenomenally heavyweight team surpassing the average Asian standard by a mile.

Isn’t it a pragmatic move for Asian Rugby, the regional body, to cajole and exert pressure on World Rugby, the governing body of the sport, to devise a new global tournament where lesser rugby nations also have the opportunity to bask in international glory.

After all, World Rugby is obligated to look into the Asian rugby aspirations in compliance with their slogan, “Rugby for All” as articulated by Vernon Pugh, then their chairman at the launch of the World Rugby Sevens in 1999 “... to establish rugby as a truly global sport ...”

In this respect, a weight grade international tournament would be ideal for players weighing not more than 80kilos. This would make the contest between the Caucasians, the South Sea Islanders and the Asians an equitable one.

After all, weight competitions are common in international sports like boxing, kickboxing and wrestling to name a few.

And it would be the icing on the cake to replace the Sevens rugby at the Olympics with this weight grade innovation, giving every nation the opportunity to strike gold!

In rugby, size does matter.