“We don’t want to turn into Wendyball.” It’s a phrase that makes me want to snap some rugby fans’ rose-tinted spectacles over my knee. Some punters, it’s sad to say,…
Rugby Rant
Rugby Rant: Don’t scrap the Aviva Premiership salary cap!
If Saracens’ Ed Griffiths was testing the water when he suggested abolishing the salary cap in England, he got badly scalded. Coaches and fellow CEOs were quick to shoot down…
Rugby Rant: Keep bad sportsmanship out of mini rugby
Every weekend, hundreds of thousands of kids descend on rugby clubs across the British Isles to enjoy the physical and mental benefits of our game. Ferrying this chirpy little army…
Rugby Rant: No time for violence in rugby
Rugby is deeply ingrained in me. I love what it stands for and the bond it creates within a team and a club. I moved to work in England two…
Rugby Rant: Stop players going off their feet at the ruck
HAVE YOU ever tried to get insurance to play rugby in another country? It is often classed as an extreme sport. Insuring the game is risky because the game is,…
Rugby Rant: European rugby letting down minnows
Last year, one team in eight in Europe was from outside the three professional leagues. This year, it’ll be one in 20. At the most. Another day, another disappointment, as…
Rugby Rant: The half-time interview is pointless
As I looked around the Stade Jean Bouin midway through the Women’s World Cup final, I noticed Magali Harvey giving a TV interview on the pitch. The half-time interview has…
Rugby Rant: Diving in the pro game
THE SAYING goes that ‘footballers spend the whole game pretending they’re hurt, whilst rugby players spend the whole game pretending they’re not’. Rugby union is an increasingly brutal, attritional game, and…
Rugby Rant: Fund GB women’s sevens!
SEVENS’ admission into the Olympics is one of the most exciting developments in rugby in decades. In the women’s game it is probably the most transformational development ever. Here, at…
Rugby Rant: Leave kids’ rugby alone!
Allyson Pollock, professor of public health research and policy at Queen Mary University of London, is meddling with our game. For the second time in four years she is openly…