Dangers of a shrinking village

World Cup: England want to host 2007 but not all is well with the rich getting richer

In a hospitality section at Twickenham called the Spirit of Rugby, England will announce details tomorrow of their bid to host the 2007 World Cup. If successful, it should be the culmination of the eight-year plan of Francis Baron, chief executive of the Rugby Football Union, to make England not only the sport's strongest nation but the richest.

The only other contender for what ostensibly is the game's global showpiece is France, and both countries made their presentations to the Rugby World Cup board in Dublin on Friday. RWC's recommendation will be considered by the International Rugby Board next month and an announcement is expected on 14 November. And the winner is... not necessarily the spirit of rugby.

The disclosure that England, disillusioned with the IRB's international fixture schedules, have been talking to Australia and South Africa about an annual tri-nations tournament at Twickenham beginning in 2004 has angered the smaller countries, and with good reason. Like William Webb Ellis, England have the ball and are running with it. There is, however, a danger of being compared with another public-school figure, namely Flashman.

The perception that the gap between the haves and the have-nots is getting wider was strengthened with the embarrassing collapse of the Northern Hemisphere v Southern Hemisphere match which was scheduled for Twickers on 30 November. Designed specifically as a blockbuster between the best players in the world to raise money for countries that don't know where their next scrum cap is coming from, the IRB's brainchild was strangled at birth. It was a noble idea, but the timing could have been better.

Last week Michael Lynagh, the great Wallaby stand-off who joined the IRB executive in April, resigned. In what had seemed one of the more enlightened moves by the governing body, Lynagh was recruited to promote global development and was also "manager" of the ill-fated North-South encounter.

"I have resigned for a variety of reasons," Lynagh declared. "Not all of them personal. It's a sad state of affairs. It wasn't working out, so rather than prolong the agony I felt it was better to go." Lynagh made some waves at the IRB headquarters in Dublin, where the view is that as a rugby politician he was uncomfortable in a "whole new ball game".

England's World Cup bid did not get off to the best of starts; they postponed a briefing on 1 October after being reminded they had to maintain "absolute confidentiality" before making their presentation to RWC. It hasn't stopped the RFU's public relations machine from pointing out that Baron, formerly chief executive of First Choice holidays, has overseen a "remarkable transformation" in Twickenham's fortunes: from a bankrupt amateur sport to England's second richest federation after the FA; that he resolved the club versus country dispute that "brought English rugby to its knees"; secured more than £200 million in income from television rights; and settled the player's strike two years ago. He also, of course, devised the eight-year plan which is designed to peak with England lifting the Webb Ellis Cup at Twickenham in the autumn of 2007.

England have been co-hosts before but never in sole charge and it would, they claim, have a major economic impact on the country, although whether they mean the shires or Britain as a whole is not clear. When it comes to guarding their own interests England have form, particularly in relation to the Six Nations' Championship and the TV deal with Sky.

Seven years on from professionalism, the game appears to have shrunk rather than grown, a point made by Steve Hansen, Wales's New Zealand coach, in Cardiff last Monday. "Professionalism has helped a few nations but hindered many," Hansen claimed. "Apart from England, Australia and France, countries around the world are struggling to finance the game. The people at the top should be aware that we need to grow rugby, not make it smaller, by allowing certain nations to compete among themselves." While England are preparing to host New Zealand, Australia and the Springboks next month, games that will earn them £30 million, Wales receive Romania, Canada, Fiji and the All Blacks.

"In the last football World Cup, every side seemed to have an opportunity of winning the thing," Hansen added. "You can't say that for rugby. It's narrow-minded for the most competitive sides to draw the wagons round and not play everyone else. The sport cannot afford that." New Zealand dominated the first World Cup in their own country in 1987; Australia defeated England in the 1991 final at Twickenham; South Africa took it in Johannesburg in 1995; and the Wallabies triumphed again, in Cardiff, three years ago: Southern Hemisphere 4 The Rest 0, and all very predictable. Apart from Argentina, Canada, Fiji or Samoa inflicting the odd bloody nose, the usual suspects are almost waved into the quarter-finals.

The IRB have 90 hungry mouths to feed and the World Cup, flawed as it is, is their bread basket. Where England can negotiate in strength is in their commercial clout. The £80m redevelopment of the south side of Twickenham is expected to be completed in 2004, boosting capacity at the stadium to 82,000.

In addition to using rugby grounds at Leicester, Northampton, Gloucester and Redruth, it is understood the RFU would play matches at Old Trafford, Anfield, St James' Park and Villa Park. They say they can deliver a profit of £50m and that is not counting money from TV and sponsorship. In an innovation, England propose a second tier to the tournament, involving the underdeveloped nations.

The French bid also contains a fresh initiative, the choice of an alternative to an autumn cup. The fair-weather proposal would have the final at Stade de France on 14 July, Bastille Day. When France staged the successful football World Cup in 1998, they had Michel Platini as a figurehead; the rugby federation is employing Jean-Pierre Rives in a similar role. Like England, France offer 10 stadiums, including Parc des Princes, Toulouse, Marseille, Nantes, Lyon and Bordeaux.

Francis Baron's England need not apologise for successfully converting to the professional era but they have work to do on the PR front. Filling Twickenham is an obligation but not at the expense of alienating 90 per cent of the IRB membership. Hosting the World Cup would give England the chance to emulate Wembley 1966 and all that, but the spirit of rugby would be enhanced if the competition was global in substance rather than merely name.