Writing in the Independent, Peter Bills tears into the northern hemisphere's willingness to put aside competing on the international stage in favour of raking in the cash.
"This large helping of humble pie at every rugby man's table in the northern hemisphere should herald a re-think, a study of why the game in this part of the world has again been left behind by the southern hemisphere.
"But it won't. When you put weekends in Rome, Paris and London ahead of the actual product on the field, when you study only your own bank balances and ignore the fare presented in front of you, there can be no proper judgement made by the countries of the northern hemisphere. All that matters in this part of the world is money, the filthy lucre. If that is swilling around and the national Unions and clubs are filling their snouts at the trough, then all is well. Nor does it seem to bother the patrons that they're largely watching second grade stuff most of the time.
"At least Wales were in the hunt for 40 minutes in Cardiff. They understood the need for fast, second phase ruck ball and off-loading in the tackle to have any hope of playing the modern game successfully. England, five years to the day after they won the World Cup, weren't at the party at Twickenham against the World Champions for half that time whilst France were inferior in Paris. All this tells a revealing story. The northern hemisphere has been studying its own navel, content with the view, for too long. This autumn Test series has underlined that all is far from well with the game in this part of the world."
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