England manager Clive Woodward dismissed his side's number one world ranking and said in his mind that honour remained still with world champions Australia.
The former England and British Lions centre, who was speaking on the eve of the potential Six Nations Grand Slam decider with France, claimed until a side won the World Cup they were not worthy of being called the best in the world.
"We are number one courtesy of the world rankings and nice as that is it is not the real story," he said.
"You are only the best if you've won the World Cup and for me Australia are the best because they are the world champions and also won it in 1991.
"As in any sport until you've won a major you cannot consider yourself to be the best in the world and we are yet to achieve that."
Woodward also dismissed suggestions that his side were the finished article and that they would deal with France in the same clinical fashion they had with the 29-3 win over Scotland and the 45-11 walloping of Ireland.
"This is the big test," he said.
"It is no certainty we will win because I saw 40 minutes of great rugby against Ireland and a second 40 which was unsatisfactory.
"If we give away the ball as we did against Ireland then we will lose because France will punish us fully."
Woodward said while the defeat by Ireland last September, which had seen England's hopes of the Grand Slam disappear for the third successive year in the last match, had been deserved he did not look back but rather forward.
"The moment you think you have cracked it and got the perfect formula you get slapped in the face," he said.
"This team still has a long way to go and there is a massive amount of room for improvement.
"If you ever think it is done then you finish second."
Woodward said what he was looking for from the team was to improve little by little.
"The important thing after a defeat like the one against Ireland is to bounce back and we have shown that in the autumn tests (beating South Africa and Australia) and in our first two matches in the Six Nations," he said.
"What I am looking for is the team improving by one percent each match and if I see that happening then I will be very happy."
As for fulfilling the England fans expectations Woodward said it was out of his hands.
"You can't let yourself worry about it. All I can do with the rest of the coaching staff is prepare the team for the next game," he said.
"You can't control people's expectations so we can't really concern ourselves with that.
"The only thing we have a certain control over is the team performing to the best of its ability on the pitch and then hopefully the result suiting the expectations of the fans."
Source: AAP
Date Published: Mar 02, 2002
NZRFU surprised over RWC concerns
The New Zealand Rugby Football Union is surprised to learn that the International Rugby Board has concerns about New Zealand being a sub-host for Rugby World Cup 2003.
NZRFU Chief Executive David Rutherford said that his organisation had thought it had resolved matters with the IRB over Rugby World Cup 2003 late last year.
"The issues that have been the stumbling block between the NZRFU and the IRB have been over the Air New Zealand NPC and commercial matters, which need to be confidential at this stage.
"The IRB had concerns about the overlap of the 2003 NPC with the Rugby World Cup. Originally the IRB wanted the NPC either cancelled in 2003 or completely moved to another time in the year.
"That would be disastrous for New Zealand rugby as the competition is the backbone of our game and because the NPC brings in about $20 million a year into provincial union coffers and to move the NPC back would severely impact on club rugby.
"The NZRFU came up with a compromise with the end of the NPC only overlapping the start of the Rugby World Cup and thought it had agreement with the IRB about this last November.
"In December we were informed that the matter would be discussed at a Rugby World Cup Ltd Board meeting.
"In December the Australian Rugby Union and the NZRFU also agreed to a sub host union agreement and this was sent to the IRB for approval."
He said the NZRFU received communications from the IRB on Wednesday suggesting a number of compromises over the NPC issue.
These include not having the NPC extend for more than 10 days into the Rugby World Cup, that there is at least one clear day between Rugby World Cup matches and NPC games, that Rugby World Cup venues are not to be used for NPC matches and that there be no "bundling" of tickets between Rugby World Cup and NPC matches.
"We will work through these ideas to see if they are achievable and are confident of resolution on the NPC matters provided a reasonable approach is taken all round.
"The difficulties over commercial matters have yet to be resolved."
Rutherford said the NZRFU was also disturbed that those involved in the organisation of the Rugby World Cup seemed incapable of keeping significant commercial issues confidential.
"It's interesting that we hear of these issues through the Australian media before the IRB communications arrived this morning.
"The NZRFU expects the IRB to investigate the latest leak to the Australian media as only a small number of people know this information. We also expect them to take firm action against the source should they find it."
Source: nzrugby.com
Date Published: Feb 27, 2002
Wallabies, Springboks to play in Asia
Australia and South Africa are close to agreeing to play each other in either Asia or Europe later this year, Australian media reported on Tuesday.
Australia and South Africa are already scheduled to play each other twice this year in the Tri-Nations tournament but a third match, for the Nelson Mandela Plate, is also on the agenda.
"It is South Africa's call as they are the host of the next Nelson Mandela Plate match," Australian Rugby Union managing director John O'Neill told the Sydney Morning Herald.
"It is still under discussion but it is looking very positive that the test will be played in a location outside of South Africa or Australia."
The two countries floated the idea last year of playing each other at a neutral venue as part of an initiative to spread rugby union worldwide.
O'Neill said Tokyo and Hong Kong had both expressed interest in staging the match, while Europe was being considered because both countries are touring there this year.
South African rugby chief Rian Oberholzer is due to meet O'Neill in Sydney next month to discuss the proposal.
Australia broke new ground when they played the inaugural Nelson Mandela Plate indoors in Melbourne in 2000, and the South Africans are reportedly keen to use the 2002 match to promote the sport.
Source: Reuters
Date Published: Feb 26, 2002