Editorial: The beautiful game

Soccer – or, as we're now supposed to call it, football – hogged the limelight this weekend, and with good reason.

The opportunity for the All Whites to suit up for a World Cup finals tournament comes but rarely – Saturday's qualifying decider came a full 27 years after the national side's only previous appearance, in 1982. The result – a sublime header, a magical save and a one-nil win over Bahrain – sent the 35,000-strong sellout crowd into raptures, handed New Zealand a ticket to the finals of the world's biggest individual sports tournament and a $10 million boost just for qualifying.

The trip to South Africa next year is just reward for the efforts of enthusiasts for a sport that once struggled to gain traction in schools, the media and hearts and minds in this country. The result is in part due to a generational legacy slowly being built – it is fitting the winning goal was scored by the son of the coach in 1982, and the current coach was the former World Cup skipper. To reach the finals of a tournament so prominent globally is a fantastic opportunity for current players and is certain to bring a massive boost to the sport in this country.

The flamboyant crowd was the other winner on the night and every bit as passionate as anything seen at the regular highlight of the sporting year, the Wellington sevens. The capital benefited too, with an estimated $7 million pumped into the city's economy, illustrating the importance of hosting significant events. However, rugby is never far from the headlines. Forgetting yesterday's unconvincing effort against Italy aside – easily done – two recent events highlight the pressures the national game faces. A 35,000-strong petition calling on the New Zealand Rugby Union to abandon plans to cull four teams from the premier Air New Zealand Cup was handed to the union on Friday. That nearly a third were gathered in The Nelson Mail-Marlborough Express Save the Makos campaign and had already been presented to NZRU chief executive Steve Tew is not an issue. The organisers of an online petition that collected more than 13,000 signatures across New Zealand were given permission to combine the two, adding a further 7500 names from a Manawatu-based Save the Turbos petition for good measure.

The argument has been well canvassed but the NZRU should reconsider some salient points before moving against Tasman. Uppermost is the huge support for the Makos – as evidenced by the Mail's petition. There is the money spent on upgrading facilities at the union's behest, the team's performance this year, and the general renaissance of the sport in provincial areas this season. And there is the need to keep rugby administrators, local politicians and the public on board and buzzing as the groundwork for the 2011 Rugby World Cup gathers pace. The union can ill afford to treat its public with contempt. As 35,000 people demonstrated in the Cake Tin on Saturday, there are options.

Another disturbing development is the muting of Sky commentator Murray Mexted. The former All Black loose forward says he was suspended for criticising the NZRU's plan to cut the main competition back to 10 teams. Assuming there are no deeper forces at play, Sky's decision to muzzle Mexted is heavy-handed, fawning and verging on paranoia. Freedom of speech is the New Zealand way, and attempts to suppress should be firmly resisted.

- © Fairfax NZ News