[Johnners]

The World Cup in general is great for Rugby. It's basically the only time Rugby gets worldwide coverage, which is great for the minnow teams in terms of the $$$$ it should raise, and for (hopefully) getting more fans interested in the game. Also, imo there has definetly been an improvement in the performance of the minnow teams in the four years since the last WC. Whilst it has obviously produced some questionable tactics (such as the resting of star players etc.) i'm slightly optimistic that it'll only be a once off thing, because as we saw with the All Blacks, it's not going to guarantee you a positive world cup result.

As NUFAN said though, i think Rugbys biggest problem atm is the defensive tactics employed by many teams, particularly those from the Northern Hemisphere. Whilst it may produces close games, it also generally produces what could be described as a very bland, boring game of rugby. It's good to see that the IRB (well i think it was the IRBs initiative?) has taken some positive steps to overcome this problem though, with the trialing of new/updated laws which are attempting to encourage more attacking rugby instead of a penalty/drop kick-athon. The Australia Rugby Championship has just finished, and they were playing under the proposed new laws and i must say i found the games very entertaining. Also, correct me if I'm wrong, but i'm under the impression that the Super 14 will play under these laws next season?