The national coach says the Championship is ‘something I don’t really worry about’, but the state of a league that helps to shape tomorrow’s stars should be a concernPeople often wrongly assume rugby union is defined by weeks such as this. England v France, all the “le Crunch” hoopla, the wider Six Nations equation, the millions watching on television. It matters, of course it does, but – as any French supporter will tell you – it barely scratches the surface of what the game is truly about.It is a bit like announcing the only wine worth drinking is the stuff they pour (or used to) in Paris’s fancier restaurants. If, on the other hand, you hail from a small southern...
From the best-run Premiership club to the grassroots, all parts of the game are in peril but not all its ills can be pinned on CovidThere is nothing quite like a pandemic for exposing hard, uncomfortable truths. And, give or take stand-up comedians, nightclub owners and first year university students, few face a bleaker midwinter than sports that live or die by people entering their stadiums each weekend. The word “catastrophe” usually jars in the context of mere athletic pursuits but increasingly, in rugby, there is no ducking it.It is almost impossible to exaggerate the depth of the abyss into which much of the game – professional and amateur – in Britain and Ireland is now staring. At every level...
Tracking devices can be used to maintain adequate social distancing if supporters are permitted back in stadiumsAfter a kick in the teeth, a kiss of life? Sports bodies were left blindsided and woozy by the announcement on Tuesday that the return of crowds to stadiums would not only be “paused” but could be delayed until 1 April. Then came a slither of hope with the news that up to eight elite sports are now likely to be helped by a rescue package. The question now is how deep is the government’s pockets – and will the money really be enough?Make no mistake: this is a crisis so menacing it should come accompanied by the soundtrack to Jaws. How can it...
Administrators need to realise that the way rugby is marketed needs to change beginning with a calendar that works for allThe truth can be elusive in rugby union. Even in exceptionally unstable times there will always be those who dismiss it as simply a bit of light turbulence. So things must be serious when those with extensive knowledge of the game’s economics publicly query its future as a global professional sport unless its administrators wake up to the onrushing reality.Over in Japan some believe it may already be too late, regardless of the post-coronavirus landscape. With 30 years of experience in sports marketing worldwide, Robert Maes knows his subject and says rugby union’s rulers need to wise up.“The players are...
The decision to slash the funding to Championship clubs has been poorly thought out, poorly delivered and poorly received in a week rugby may always rememberWas this the week English rugby changed for ever? It felt like it, and not in the positive way the Rugby Football Union intended. So loud and impassioned has been the criticism of the decision to slash central funding to the Championship by almost half, effectively cutting adrift the second tier of the English club game, it has called into question the RFU’s raison d’etre.No wonder those clubs affected feel let down, not for the first time. If professionalism effectively killed off several famous old names, this could well have the same result. It also...