Time to follow Australian pride not British prejudice

Why are the Olympic Games making me shudder? Not because I'm not enjoying them - quite the reverse. I'm finding it difficult to drag myself away from the television. My problem is that they are so successful the Australians are going to be even more gung-ho as a sporting nation.

Why are the Olympic Games making me shudder? Not because I'm not enjoying them - quite the reverse. I'm finding it difficult to drag myself away from the television. My problem is that they are so successful the Australians are going to be even more gung-ho as a sporting nation.

Woe betide anyone who has to face them when they're in that mood, and I'm thinking particularly of the Lions, who will be playing there next summer. The place will still be bouncing when our boys arrive, and their task will be all the greater because of the self-confidence that is being pumped into the country at the moment. Their belief in themselves has long been a vital part of the thrust that has made them the most successful sporting nation in the world in proportion to their population.

You could sense their chests swelling while that fantastic opening ceremony was going on, and events since have done nothing to quench their pride. It is a strong message, and I hope it is being received over here. There is no activity that can do more for a nation's wellbeing, and I wish we could drive that obvious lesson through our corridors of power.

Rugby is not an Olympic sport - although the International Rugby Board's chairman, Vernon Pugh, is in Sydney trying to get it into the 2008 Games - but their rugby team will grow in self-belief through what is happening there. That's the way things work out in Australia, and I wish we could copy them.

I played rugby league in Australia at beginning of the Nineties, and you could see then the progress they were making. I used to go training at 7am, and the gyms and tracks would be full of people practising for all sorts of sport under the expert eye of trained coaches. No matter what the sport, they were all training together, and the collective feeling came over very strongly. In rugby, their training sessions were more competitive than some of our games, and you could not fail to be impressed with the way they drove each other on. I am sure that is the secret.

I am also convinced that we have as much raw talent as they have. The difference is in attitude. They find and nourish their talented kids, while we either ignore them or fail to encourage and develop them. I know that they have many advantages over us, especially in climate, but for far too long we have used our weather as a convenient excuse for not trying harder to match their total commitment to sport.

Our neglect covers all sports, but rugby obviously interests me most. Even during my lifetime there has been a marked decrease in sporting opportunities in school. My son, Scott, is fortunate enough to play rugby at school, and on Saturday morning plays for a boys' club who have 200 players at various age levels. But their coaching is all down to the parents. We could do with coaches to teach the coaches, and there is often talk of this but no sign of any action.

The subject came up when I happened to have a chat with the Wales and Lions coach Graham Henry and Lynn "The Leap" Davies, the Olympic long-jump gold medallist back in 1964, the other day. We despaired of the talent that must be going to waste because sport has been officially relegated to the back-burner.

How much of a scandal this is can be emphasised just by watching how much the Aussies have put into it. We don't lack pride, our kids are as keen as anyone's - at least, they would be if they were given the chance - but the will is not present at a high enough level.

What better use for the Millennium Dome than to be transformed into a British sports academy? Think of all those indoor pitches and facilities. What a way to turn a white elephant into a national powerhouse for our sporting future. The Australians would not think twice about it. That's why we will carry on watching in envy.