David Campese always did have a big mouth - and it seems nothing has changed. When I was reporting international rugby for the British tabloids in the early 90s, I vividly remember him slagging off just about everybody in rugby when I gave him a lift from Murrayfield to Edinburgh Airport after a Scotland game.

Yet it was all said with a wry tongue-in-cheek grin and you could not help but like the verbose Australian wing legend, whose goose-stepping runs will always be a part of rugby folklore. In fact, you had to laugh when he referred to Scotland’s then British Lions captain Finlay Calder as ‘’Calder Finlay.’’

However, I’m sure Campo was serious when he suggested recently that the Rugby World Cup should dispose of the minnows and reduce itself to a 16 or even eight-team format. For all his outspokenness, after the  maulings suffered by Japan, Portugal and Namibia, many will have agreed with the Oz wizard’s observation - if only to save the little men from further punishment.

'Surely there is nothing better for the little nations than to be given their chance to pit their playing wits against the best in the world?'


"You have to ask the question: Why are amateur teams playing in the World Cup in the professional era?" the Evening Standard reported campese as saying. "I think it's pathetic and the IRB (International Rugby Board) should have gone with England's idea of two tournaments running at the same time.

"The IRB haven't thought about where the World Cup is heading and I do not see how it is going to help the sport in Namibia, Georgia and Portugal to have these teams hammered in every game. How are you helping spread the game of rugby by showing those teams being badly beaten on a regular basis?"

In a way, Campese talks sense  - even though an unlucky 14-10 defeat by Ireland is scarcely a Georgian hammering. But surely there is nothing better for the little nations than to be given their chance to pit their playing wits against the best in the world? They can only learn from the experience - and just taking part is in many ways more important than winning.

Sportingo reader Luis Aranha summed it up in a comment he left under one of our rugby articles after Portugal’s 108-13 defeat by the All Blacks. He wrote: ‘‘I played rugby for 25 years in Portugal, and was a director of the Portuguese rugby Federation and the president of my club CASCAIS. When Portugal scored their try against the All Blacks I cried with emotion sitting by myself in my house. It was a great moment for Portuguese rugby. But my biggest joy was to see Portugal playing without any complex . They were perfect and for me they won the game.’’

New Zealand may have scored a myriad of points, but the proud men in red and green made an even greater point - that just being there is a victory in itself for the lesser lights of the game. The other big question is: How on earth can the poor relations of world rugby improve if they are polarised while the rich get richer?

Campese makes a case for the World Cup going straight into a quarter-final format for the teams ranked in the top eight. On current form, that would mean at least a couple of the home unions - perhaps even England - not being involved.

"This isn't like the Cricket World Cup, where we saw Ireland and Bangladesh making it into the knock-out stages," Campese added. "In rugby, the winner will come from the same five or six countries. End of story."

Fortunately not all the big names in the game feel the same way. All Blacks flanker Jerry Collins insists: "Everybody who's here has earned the right to be here. They should get credit for getting this far and we should get behind them. They're only going to get better if they come here."

And what do the fans themselves think? As one dyed-in-the-wool New Zealand supporter commented on Sportingo: ‘I was hoping Portugal were going to score at least one try. Teams like Portugal and Georgia can only improve. I mean, they can’t be far off the Poms!’’

Ouch.

Would you keep the minnows in - or should the Rugby World Cup be reduced to a 16 or eight-team format? Post your comments below or submit an article of your own to Sportingo.