The Ankle Tap: First weekend of Rugby World Cup matches!

So the Rugby World Cup is merely 11 odd hours away from beginning… excited as all hell here. And despite the IRB’s bone-headedness over media (latest update on that can be found over at Epic Carnival here!), it is shaping up to be one helluvan event…

First round of matches – let’s have a look at the first weekend’s matches: generally speaking this weekend promises to be a fairly one-sided affair. Every match other than the opener looks cut & dried.

1. September 7th – First game, the hosts France take on Argentina, in Saint-Denis. The Argies have been in fine fettle recently, but France-on-French-soil won’t be dissuaded. I’ll tip the Les Bleus to take it, but in relatively tight contest: less than 10 points in the margin.
2. September 8th – Italy face the might of the All Blacks in Marseille. The Italians will be glad to get this one behind them, so they can focus on the possibility of qualifying for the quarters. I look for the ABs to put their stamp on this tournament & beat a much-improved Azzurri side by 24+.

IRB and media – who gets to pick the pics?

So at the time of writing, the Rugby World Cup has 1 day, 14 hours and 30 minutes before the first kickoff of the opening game between France & Argentina.

And believe it or not, there’s still a heap of contention between the International Rugby Board and the media covering the event. It all comes down to photographs.
Yup, pics.
The media coalition initially wanted the rights to publish ONE PHOTO PER SECOND of each game (are you nuts?). Whilst the IRB didn’t reject the proposal, it was treated with due disdain in a subsequent letter from the IRB to media outlets – stating that they’d be allowed to publish 40-50 photos per match. Fine.

But this is where it gets a lil’ weird… Press signing in to receive accreditation at the event in France were asked to sign terms & conditions that limited the photos to 10-12 a match.