Dear Di,
I am a rugby fan. I have never been on a rugby field. I have never felt a tackle, kicked for goal, been engaged in a scrum or cleaned a ruck.
I have never felt what a rugby player feels and yet I love this sport with all my heart.
I happen to be a zealot of all Kiwi rugby, but I know that I have a friend anywhere anyone is playing rugby. That is rugby to me.
Therefore I, like many others around the world who love rugby, am deeply in debt with all you professionals of the rugby world. I know the names of all the coaching staff of the All Blacks, for example, and I might be a little geekier than most in that I also know the name of a few others who are an essential part of the team (courtesy of Richie McCaw’s book) but remain mostly unseen and unnoticed (except when the wrong name of the reserve hooker is displayed on the team sheet and a test match is interrupted to clarify that point).
I might know a few more names than most, but I really don’t know the people behind.
People like you, who is never under the spotlight unless something very wrong happens.
I don’t know you, I don’t know the job you have been doing for the Wallabies and the Reds, I don’t know if it was hard to get there, if it was fair, if you had to fight hard and be 100% good to be recognised 50% only. I really know nothing other than your job is to ensure the players can play.
And it is outraging that your job has been exposed because of reasons related to you being a woman. If the structures in men’s rugby are such that a woman’s greatest weakness is being a woman, then rugby is not the blessed game I thought it was.
But so far, I would like to tell you that I am sorry. Even if we manage to right the things done wrong and improve our sport, the damage done to you is already done. I feel sorry for you and I would like this letter to reach you and know it.
Thanks for your job and all support and best wishes from a rugby fan.
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.
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