There was a former England coach, a former England captain, and one of the best and most respected rugby broadcasters in all Christendom. All, by sheer coincidence, either texted or phoned within the space of an hour, and all, it seemed, had reached a breaking point and wanted to vent off the record, piling into the game they once loved and desperately want to love again.
The sheer paucity and mind-numbing boredom of the weekend’s rugby – Newcastle v Sale headed the roll of dishonor but the Autumn Cup also got shoeing – was the immediate cause but in all three cases it had been building for months. It had started with a miserably poor Six Nations back in February and March before the tournament was interrupted.
It was a real canary down the coal mine moment. If they collectively were at breaking point the flame was in real trouble.
In roughly descending order the list of things they wanted to be eradicated was the ‘fecking caterpillar’, box-kicks, offside from box-kicks, the jackal having to do so little to earn a penalty, offside in midfield, kick tennis, forward passes, not being able to touch a scrum-half who has suddenly become a protected species, off your feet at rucks and forward passes. Regular readers of this column will already know my complete concurrence with all of the above.
Bu hikaye The Rugby Paper dergisinin December 06, 2020 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Giriş Yap
Bu hikaye The Rugby Paper dergisinin December 06, 2020 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
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.