Needy will suffer after North-South game delay

The game that had never really been on in the first place was finally called off yesterday, and, while the International Rugby Board insisted its North-South Challenge fixture would be re-scheduled just as soon as the various parties reached agreement on a date, there was no sign of anyone agreeing anything.

As predicted by virtually everybody outside the IRB executive, the weekend of 30 November will now be devoted to English Premiership, French Championship and Celtic League rugby, rather than a poorly thought-out, Barbarians-style exhibition match at Twickenham.

Although the IRB worked hard to sell the match as a fund-raiser for a number of second-tier Test unions fallen on hard times – Romania and the three Pacific island nations among them – the decision to play it immediately after three weeks of international activity left northern hemisphere players in an invidious position. Should they do their bit for rugby's paupers, or make themselves available to the clubs that pay their wages, and had not seen them for the best part of a month? Once the clubs made their feelings known, a boycott was inevitable.

As per usual in rugby, the politics of the matter generated enough bad feeling to last several lifetimes. The IRB accused players of demanding appearance money of £10,000 a man, implying that their objections on the grounds of burn-out and club commitments were not nearly as principled as they made out. At the same time, Premiership officials in England gave the Rugby Football Union both barrels for agreeing to host and market an international match in direct opposition to professional club matches around the country.

Meanwhile, the impoverished developing nations continue to bleed. "There is widespread enthusiasm for this fixture, backed by very substantial commercial interests," insisted Syd Millar, the acting chairman of the IRB. "It promises to raise a great deal of money for a number of unions that the board has targeted as capable of bridging the gap with the leading nations, and it is regrettable that a postponement has become necessary."

Regrettable indeed. But it is a matter of far greater regret that the IRB can think of no better way of helping those unions crippled by the professionalism it unleashed. Next year's World Cup in Australia will generate millions of dollars. Someone, somewhere should ensure some of the money goes to those who most need it.