The choice of tune seemed just a little odd, for there had been precious little evidence in the first 40 minutes that Cane and company had actually started. Freddie Mercury’s lyrics were almost as irrelevant to the 20-3 deficit as his range of sequin-studded jockstraps, although the home side could certainly have used some of his energy.
All of which begged an important question about rugby’s love affair with “event packaging”– not just the prematch and post-match brands, but also the during-match variety. Namely: What is it for? Or to put the same query in a different way: Why bother?
Leaving aside Gloucester and Northampton, two well-supported clubs with a deep-grained suspicion of “entertainment add-ons”, it is difficult to think of a Premiership venue where the crowd is considered capable of lasting longer than 30 seconds without some form of non-rugby sensory sustenance.
Even in quietly prosperous Bath, where a Liberal Democrat fondue party is viewed as dangerously radical, the resident genius in the marketing department decided that the Recreation Ground atmosphere needed zapping up. Long gone are the polite, precisely articulated tones of Alastair Steel, an affable soul whose years on public address duty were notable for two things: the clarity of his team information and the complete absence of spluttering “come on you Bath” inanities.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der July 12, 2020-Ausgabe von The Rugby Paper.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent ? Anmelden
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der July 12, 2020-Ausgabe von The Rugby Paper.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden
Ten-try Chiefs show Pirates no mercy
TEN-TRY Exeter inflicted the backlash from six successive defeats in their worst ever start to a Premiership season on a young Pirates side suffering their own problems in the Championship.
South America look to keep on building
AS Sebastián Piñeyrúa's historic six-year term as President of Rugby Sudamérica comes to an end, his replacement shows no signs of slowing down.
Scarratt excited by new pathway
ENGLAND centurion Emily Scarratt is delighted with the new women's BUCS programme which aims to provide a smoother pathway for young aspiring female players.
Baxter: I want to make things better
ROB Baxter will not be walking away from Exeter, the only club still looking for a Premiership victory this season, believing he can get the Chiefs back on track and he cannot bear the thought of anyone else doing the job.
Pearce walks in his father's footsteps
PADDY Pearce is living a dream after emulating his father and great-uncle by playing for the club he supported as a boy, Bristol.
New England group will cause uncertainty
SO JUST when we thought that everything was getting sorted between the RFU, the clubs and players, a number of new agreements and a new group raises its head.
Galthie turns his sights to the future
FRANCE head coach Fabien Galthie offered the clearest hint yet of Les Bleus' future on Wednesday, when he released 19 players back F to their clubs for the ninth and final Top 14 round before the international break.
Gilmore has tightened up our defence - Anderson
CAMERON Anderson has hailed the impact made by defence coach Jason Gilmore, below, since he arrived at The Stoop in the summer.
Ampthill given 11-try lesson in class from Bath
BATH secured a thumping away success in the opening match of their Premiership Rugby Cup campaign against Ampthill at Dillingham Park.
New faces take the plaudits for Saints
NORTHAMPTON handed out a thorough lesson to a tame Leicester team in this one-sided East Midlands derby to launch the Premiership Cup.