Bill

Meet Bill. "Bill" is more correctly known as the Webb Ellis Trophy, or the Rugby World Cup. And the Year of Bill has arrived again.

We were at the final of the very first Rugby World Cup in 1987, sitting not far from where Michael Jones scored the All Blacks' opening try. It was an unforgettable experience, and it's one that hasn't been repeated in five further attempts. We can only hope that 2011 will be the year that the All Blacks add to their RWC tally. They are certainly due!

Success on the field in RWC 2011 is of huge importance to all of us who love the game of rugby. But the Herald editorial opines this morning that there are bigger issues at stake - read on:

If the success of this year's World Cup in New Zealand depends entirely on the success of the All Blacks then the event is a failure already. The All Blacks should win the Cup, they should win it whenever and wherever it is played. They are consistently the best in the world.

If they win it this year it should be the icing on a cake we have baked and savoured for its own sake. Long before the tournament comes to its knock-out rounds this country could be enjoying the warm rewards of successful hospitality.

Just about all parts of the country will be hosting teams during the pool phase that will run though September. Each of the visiting squads will be welcomed in a different town and some of them will be based in one place for periods of weeks.

There is every prospect that local schools and rugby clubs will take a particular interest in their guest team and follow its fortunes through the tournament. The whole community will be encouraged to adopt it as their "second team".

If New Zealanders respond in the spirit the festival is offered, the experience will be about much more than rugby. It will be a party that leaves a lasting sense of friendship and recognition of ourselves in the people and places our guests have met.

It's a rather prosaic piece from the Herald's leader writer today. Sure; there are going to be significant economic benefits to New Zealand from hosting RWC 2011, and that has already been bourne out in the huge volumes of match tickets sold overseas. Tens of thousands of people will visit New Zealand, almost half of them for the first time. In terms of the value of the tourism industry, that has to be a huge plus.

Economic success is one thing. But at the end of the day, RWC 2011 is a rugby tournament, and it is one at which the All Blacks have unfinished business. In our ever-humble opinion, the Rugby World Cup will only be a success if Bill comes to this country to live for the next four years, at least. Rugby supporters will accept nothing less.