What in life compares to the feelings that new love brings? The engulfment of every mundanity in sunshine and melody, the injection of anticipatory energy into even the depths of our sleep. We strangely call the sensation ‘heady’ whilst knowing it to be entirely the work of the heart.
I am still heady, or hearty, after my recent dalliance with the Ryder Cup. Having derided as gormless fools those who willingly watch the past time (for surely it isn’t a real sport) of golf on television for all of my adult life I am now a changed man. Sort of.
I didn’t actually watch any of the ‘action’ but terribly enjoyed reading the UK newspaper reports that completely swept soccer from the back pages for this one, rain sodden week. I maintain my stance on the inherently boring nature of televised golf but now back up my ignorant discriminations with the borrowed observation that some sports are simply better covered in print.
Take the Sydney to Hobart yacht race. I would happily read for a good half hour about the exploits of those mad men in their sinking machines but there is no way in hell I would seriously consider sitting down with the purpose of watching half an hour of yachting. Two minutes, maybe five, max.
And so I am hooked on the Ryder Cup. It’s like a Lions tour but with Americans involved. And Miguel Angel Jimenez.
Now, as new love tends to do, I am brought back to consider my first love; Rugby. Comparisons surround me and, with a golfing sort of excitement still afresh, I must wonder;
If I had never known the game of rugby would I fall in love with it now?
This year’s Super 14 and Tri Nations series produced some absolutely wonderful rugby. Thrilling, entertaining stuff where men played with the spirit of school kids, a youthful optimism simply peeled off my tv screen as teams like the Reds and New Zealand played rugby as if it were a game and not a job.
The season thrilled me, filled me with a sporting lust. I felt like Tiger Woods wearing a convincing disguise in the back streets of Amsterdam or Shane Warne at the annual Single Mother’s convention on Hamilton Island.
But that, gentlemen, ain’t love.
Just like I did with the Ryder Cup, I fell in love with rugby for its story. It wasn’t the sausages but the sizzle that got to me on this sporting barbeque.
With the Ryder Cup I loved the idea of solidarity, of unpaid glory that sits so far above what an individual can achieve. I love what the Ryder Cup means to the Europeans and I love that one day an American captain will understand this and, like John McEnroe in the Davis Cup, bring that passion to the fore.
It was these sort of stories that originally wrapped me in the depths of rugby union. I loved the game as much for its now derided amateurism as I loved it for characters like David Campese who openly flouted it.
I loved the idea of rugby tours and full international teams playing against club sides. Lions jerseys left in changing rooms for hospitalised opponents, Hakas performed in front of school teachers and stockbrokers.
I loved that JPR Williams was actually Dr JPR Williams. The same for Mark Loane and others. I loved the idea that Brian Moore, the angry little English hooker is a solicitor. I love it even more that he is also now a fully qualified manicurist.
I loved that it was ok to be a bit of a nerd and still play the game. Have a look at the physiques of Joel Stransky, Andrew Mehrtens or Jason Little and tell me they couldn’t throw a little name tag around their neck and happily walk in, without impediment, to take up a desk in the offices of Google or Apple.
Julian Huxley could start talking about the complexities of the Large Hadron Collider and I wouldn’t blink an eyelid.
I loved that at the age of 14 and standing 6 foot 6 with a physique that my First XV coach loving described as ‘a long streak of weasle piss’, there was a position requiring exactly those dimensions. Better still there was the lineout; an entire set piece that ensured I was literally thrust up into the spotlight.
I loved going to Ballymore and running onto the ground after the whistle went, racing my mates to try and steal a corner flag. I loved dodging Garrick Morgan’s giant fists as he rolled his way with great annoyance through the crowd to the dressing rooms.
I loved the All Blacks and didn’t care that we weren’t equals in the international game. I loved Serge Blanco from the first time I saw him and now happily fork out way too much for items from his over-priced men’s fashion line. But honey, its SERGE.
I loved that it was the sport of big business and felt no need to bind itself to a working class mentality. The stories of David Kirk, Michael Hawker only really began when they left rugby.
I loved the game’s global reach. Che Guevera, Kris Kristopherson, Pierre de Coubertin, Oliver Reed, Nelson Mandela, Bill Clinton, George Speight, Idi Amin, Richard Burton, Sir Edmund Hillary, Boris Karloff and James Joyce all rucked and/or mauled at some point in their lives. What a rugby tour group that would make.
I don’t ever remember falling in love with the game because of its action. I can remember ‘the try from the ends of the world’ and John Kirwan’s blitzing run against Italy in the first world cup but these were merely the fruits of love realised. They weren’t the inducements but the rewards reaped.
This year’s rugby has been wonderful and I hope it has attracted new crowds but in time the game will likely return to a period of dourness as the cycle of professional rugby continues. Coaches will, and should, always try and find ways to get the upper hand and that will inevitably lead some teams down a more cynical route.
Rugby cannot avoid this but it can control its story. That is something that dourness and cynicism cannot change.
The amateur era is gone. The Corinthian ideals have no place in rugby’s biggest draw card, the World Cup. A single midweek game here or there now constitutes a rugby tour. The medical aspirations of the John Roes and Jamie Roberts are becoming rarer and rarer amongst rugby players more likely to be focused on post-playing careers behind commentary desks.
The game continues to be one for players of all shapes and sizes but it sometimes feels that even this is also something of a last bastion. As though professionalism has led rugby down the Kokoda trail and our supply lines are running out fast .
Now I know that everyone isn’t like me and that for many bright shiny images and flashing lights are what gets them going and that’s ok. Baz Luhrman has made a fine career on the basis of that knowledge but I like a bit more substance.
I like a good story.
All sports have their stories and they are as much a part of their fabric as their various rules and conventions be it AFL, basketball, surfing or fox hunting. For whatever reason rugby’s story appealed to me but it is a story that is no longer true of the modern game.
It is a story of the past, not the present or the future.
What is rugby’s new story?
OneJayBee
Roar Rookie
Marcel - well spotted - I was there but it was the final pool game - France 51-9 in front of 78,974. Pretty remarkable still given the 17000 in 1987 when Oz were in the semi!!
Dave
Guest
rugby football union during the nineteenth century. very good read of the early history of our great game. it was scotland that request that the number of players be 15 down from 20 in 1877 which let to a more passing and exciting game (page 10). there's also a page there which describe what most of us already knew that when ireland played england in their first ever match the international rugby game took off and was very popular. international test matches were the backbone of rugby's global and local development. rugby was more popular than league because they played the touring southern hemisphere teams and when they're not, they are playing wales, france, scotland ireland. another word they played more international matches and often. league had to wait for nz and australia to tour and didn't have a five nations that they can play annually in europe. very interesting and a good book. http://www.archive.org/stream/footballrugbygam00vassuoft#page/10/mode/2up http://www.archive.org/stream/cu31924031244464#page/n43/mode/2up http://www.archive.org/stream/footballrugbyuni00marsrich#page/10/mode/2up
Even looser
Guest
Is that a whinge?
Dave
Guest
its always good to have or hear other opinions. maybe some of us were brought up in a different rugby history to others. obviouly sean's more into australian rugby and league past like most people on here who are from there. but what australia and australian football codes does and did doesn't reflect the whole rugby or football world. im from new zealand where rugby is a religion and its history is taught in schools all over new zealand. the thing is you said football codes and then "put gridion aside" because you know the sport is a lot slower than both league and rugby but its run more professionally than both rugby. your first sentence was welcome to the world of professional "football" but not "sports" because baseball which you compared to rugby as slow is the most professional of them all. can i also remind you that hurling and gaelic football are also amateurs and alot more action and running than afl. i really wish you seen rugby in new zealand in the 70's and 80's sean. there was a saying in nz that rugby is an amateur sport play by professionals. i can't help thinking that you are just having a go at rugby at any chance just like your post above. both your websites reflect this even if you cross over into rugby. who are you claiming that changed rugby rules into league rules because rugby was slow and boring? how did you come to that conclusion? were you there? did all the other playing countries thought their own sport of rugby union was broing? how do you know when back in those days were very conservative and people didn't know the different between exciting and boring like we do today? iim not against you sean but we have alot of unanswer questions regards your version of events and history on here and your two websites. yes we think its bias and i personally think the events, dates and refences might be right but on top of that the majority of it is your own pesonal opinion. an opinion that is based on others writings and articals. i've read the bible before and i can easily put my own 2 cents and say if jesus was nutta or a savior based on what i've read. i could easily be an atheists and said that he was under the influence of drugs or be a christian and said he was the son of god and that more than 1 billion of us christian are right. i'll will post a couple of exambles from your websites in my next post.
mattamkII
Guest
Next great story... AUSSIE RUGBY FANS STOP WHINGING ABOUT THE GAME AND START SUPPORTING.... or is that more wishful thinking?
Ben
Guest
Hey Jim, just like Gasnier and Wendel, timana etc....Karmichael went OK for Biratizz and no one would say he tore it apart. For that matter i will be in the Hamptons this weekend.....care to join?
Ben
Guest
I admit Jason Robinson.......but Blinky Bill Andrew Walker was a Union Player...he was 17 when he was No 10 for Randwick....he then moved to League back to Union etc etc. Thorne was a Union Player than went to League.. It will be interesting to see how Sonny Goes and i wouldn't be surprised to see him in the 13 for the AB's.
DaniE
Guest
Nice to see you back Garth - what a way to return with a great article. I'm a lot like you, I've got to have a story to bring me in and keep me in. I stopped reading rugby's story a while back as it seemed stale and stodgy, and with more tales of dishonour rather than honour. Teams not trying to win by scoring a try. Taking the easy option. Amping up the hype but failing to deliver. I'm based in Malaysia now and what I find exciting here is seeing the number of people who like rugby and have played it - people wearing jerseys during the World Cup, having rugby (mainly All Black) stickers on their cars, striking up random conversations with locals about rugby - men and women! So even with all the cynicism about Asian rugby, I think it could be a burgeoning story. I don't care if the locals are too short or slight to play competitively with the likes of Australia, NZ or even Scotland. What matters is they love the game, full stop. Giving them more opportunities to play and watch the game - quality games - is what matters. That goes for the rest of the world as well.
mcxd
Guest
the moustache was just as good !!
JottingsOnRugby.com
Guest
True, but it is still tiresome - I'd sooner not post here if every time I do it descends into a code war based on others' misguided beliefs about my interests/work. I suppose I could stop sharing my work on 19th century rugby history and its contemporary application, keep it for my own amusement, and then the void could be filled by...oh. that's right...nobody. Meanwhile, there's earlier posts in this thread, indeed Garth's article itself, bemoaning the lack of intellectual writing on RU.
Garth Hamilton
Guest
Mick, Your faith is well placed. She was a 2001 Holden VU SS. Red, with a fibreglass hardcover. Bought it from a girl in Logan who had lowered it and fitted it out with new mags before realising she couldn't afford the repayments. Sold it to a dealer on Moorooka's magic mile for a marginal loss a few years and a few speeding violations later. Now in the UK, with child in tow and the requisit 'family car' out the front but gee I wish I had that ute again. Maybe I would dig out the old rugby boots and throw them in the back, let them rattle around a bit and remind me of glory days. All, thanks for the kind comments. As I always promise Zac, I will try to write more, day job permitting.
Monty
Guest
Sheek, With the upmost respect, perhaps if you look too much into the light you become blinded to all the good things that are happening in rugby. Balance is what is required. The sweet is never as sweet without the sour. Monty
sheek
Guest
Sean, Don't worry. Those refusing to see the light can remain in the dark. Both ignorance & resentment are terrible diseases.
dunc
Guest
great first post mate. rugby is booming overseas.i was in argentina recently and everytime i said i was from new zealand, they said Ah All Blacks.....!!
Alders
Guest
He clearly means the largest annual international sporting event between nations. It does bump football off the back page when England are on top. Even the Heineken Cup managed to do so last week.
JottingsOnRugby.com
Guest
You're right. I should have gone to the pub.
JF
Guest
Sean Fagan engaged in mindless code-waring, complete with bias, hyperbole and anecdotal evidence. Good work, glad to see you have joined the rest of us.
JottingsOnRugby.com
Guest
Let's just accept Dave that it wouldn't matter what I wrote, it wouldn't accord with your recollection.
Tortion
Guest
Um, Andrew. I meant between nations of course. I have been to a number of Chelsea's CL matches and it doesn't match Millenium Stadium or Croke Park (yet to go to Twickers).
stuff happens
Guest
Great article Garth.Like Katzilla my latest rugby moments were watching the 7's in Delhi. What about PNG?! Look like the next Samoa to me.Who are these guys ? Apparently the players come from one group of islands only but I didn't understand the story.Shane Howarth from NZ via Wales is their coach & they can play let me tell you. And then there was Uganda with those great red/yellow/ black shirts. And do you know, everyone in the crowd was having fun - that's what I liked about it. On the field of course they were dying from the heat. And Gordon Titjens is a story on his own - must rank as one of the most successful coaches ever.And yes he smiled when his beloved team won! And my last story is also from the Commonwealth Games, but forgive me not rugby, and the look of unbridled joy on the face of the young woman from the Cayman Islands who won the 200m.as she alone sang their national anthem which sounded like a slow Welsh hymn. This I thought is what sport is all about.