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Whilst watching (and actually enjoying) this year’s football World Cup, particularly the Argentinian team and their fascinating coach, I was reminded of the famous line about former Wallaby David Campese being “the Maradona of rugby”.
Actually, the full quote, made by former Irish five-eighth Tony Ward, is: “He is the Maradona, the Pele of international Rugby all rolled into one.”
I’ll focus here on the Maradona comparison.
Interestingly, both players have working-class backgrounds. This is unusual in Campese’s case, as rugby is certainly a middle and upper-class game in Australia today and was even more so prior to professionalism. Campese once said that if it hadn’t been for rugby he would probably have still been working in the timber-mill in his hometown of Quenbeyan.
Off the field, Maradona’s escapades are well-documented whilst apparently Campo, in his playing days, didn’t partake in team drinking sessions. However, on the field, there are a number of comparisons.
Both were renowned for their amazing footwork, both played many games for their national team (Maradona 91 and Campese 101) and both scored many times (Maradona 34 and Campese 64), although some claim that the fact that defenses were less structured in those needs to be taken into account.
Maradona played international soccer for an incredible 17 years, Campo for 14. Both players probably continued playing a little too long, however it is indicative of their talents that they were able to remain in the make-up of the side and were rarely dropped over such a long period of time.
Campese participated in three World Cups, and Maradona in four, and probably the most striking comparison between their footballing careers is located within their World Cup-winning performances. The FIFA World Cup is the most popular international sporting event in the world, whilst rugby’s WC is the third-most popular international sporting event in the world, behind the Olympics.
In the 1986 World Cup, which Argentina won, Maradona completely dominated the competition, scoring what has become known as the ‘Goal of the Century’ in the quarter-final against England (which, incidentally, occurred after the ‘Hand of God’ had conveniently and divinely intervened to put the Argies ahead).
Similarly, Australia’s 1991 rugby WC victory can be greatly attributed to David Campese, whose first-half performance (which included a famous try and ‘no-look’ pass) against New Zealand in the semi-final is seen as the greatest half of rugby by an individual player. Campese, like Maradona, also engaged in gamesmanship, berating England for playing ’10-man rugby’ and daring them to attack in the final, which they did, poorly.
Both Campese and Maradona were officially acclaimed “Player of the Tournament” in 1991 and 1986 respectively.
The two players were also well-known for their arrogance, although they seem to have mellowed on that level in recent times; witness Maradona’s sheepish admission to a British interviewer a few years ago that ‘that goal’ was not ‘a little of the head of Maradona and a little of the hand of god’, as much as it was ‘a lotta handball’. Finally, both played in Italy professionally towards the end of their career (in Campo’s case this was unofficial as rugby was still amateur at the time).
Maradona has probably never heard of Campese but, interestingly, Santa Maradona is said to be a fan of the Argentinian rugby team, Los Pumas; his support is important to the game in a country where the ‘game they play in heaven’ is often played and followed by those who also indulge in that most bourgeois of pastimes, ‘the sport of kings’ (polo)…
A glaring difference, however, is in the way these players are seen in their own countries. Maradona’s name is often depicted as ‘Santa Maradona’ and sometimes ‘D10S’, a play on his No. 10 jersey and the Spanish word for ‘god’; Campo is often known as, well, simply ‘Campo’ or even ‘bloody Campo’, to the ignorant…
Criticism of Campo as a player throughout his career was fierce,and largely unwarranted. He committed a few major blunders, but more than made up for it with 64 tries and countless try set-ups, penalty goals, kicks for touch etc – Northern hemisphere teams regularly admitted that they longed to have a player like Campo, and Nick Farr-Jones has said that the 1991 WC would not have been won without him.
In comparison, Maradona’s transgressions were/are readily forgiven by the public and, depsite concerns about his lack of coaching experience he is now the coach of the national side. Campese was to an extent ignored by the rugby fraternity until importantly, as Growden noted a few years ago, he was asked to present jerseys to the Wallabies pre-game.
There are vast numbers of YouTube clips involving Maradona (both on and off the field), but no so many of Campo.
Interestingly, Bob Dwyer considers Campo’s greatest try to have been one he scored against Argentina in 1983: “An Argentine defender had Campese well covered, but when he moved in to tackle him, Campese did his famous goose-step. The change of pace deceived the Argentine so comprehensively that he dived into touch, clutching thin air. The referee, the Welshman Clive Norling, was so impressed by this that he went up to Campese as soon as he had scored and told him it was the best try he had ever seen.”
I suppose if you want to see it, you’ll have to track down a DVD somewhere!
So, why is it that a player who so completely dominated his game for many years, who can be compared to greats in other international sports is not as lauded as the Maradona’s and Pele’s? A comparison between rugby league or Australian football players to any soccer greats cannot be made, as these are not truly international games.
Within the rugby fraternity, I suspect that many people had misgivings about Campo because he wasn’t ‘rugby’ enough, in that he didn’t like to drink, didn’t link arms during the anthem, didn’t acknowledge ‘the boys’, apparently didn’t like to defend etc. As former All Black John Kirwan once said, “rugby is a pretty conservative game” and Campo was a “free spirit”.
In fact, in his playing style Campo was probably more like a soccer player – less reliant on power than outwitting his opponents. It is for this reason that comparisons between an emerging Lomu and Campese in 1993 were inaccurate. As league and AFL players become increasingly uniform in size, it is fortunate that there still remains a place in rugby for players like James O’Conner and Shane Williams.
Another reason that Campo is perhaps not as well-known as he should be can be put down to the class divisions that run through league and union in Australia, as well as the sometimes petty tribalism of League and AFL and, to a lesser extent, soccer supporters.
Personally, I like the lack of tribalism in rugby union; give me the ‘just a game’ attitude any day. However, it is important that we continue to acknowledge Campo as, not only one of the greatest rugby players ever, but as simply one of the greatest sportsmen of all time.
In conclusion, wouldn’t it be great to have a fairytale finish for Maradona? Go the Argies!
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.