and the paramount importance of teamwork.

For all the talk of Piano Players and Piano Shifters, all of them know that without both turning up and performing, there will be no concert. We all saw the effect on the club’s performance during the season where Darren Garforth was injured; we were unable to compete at the top level in spite of Wig’s valiant rallying to the cause. Was Darren one of the glamour boys? Not entirely. Could we win solid ball with which the glamour boys could perform? Not entirely.

Respect between the players is critical, listen to Johnno talk about his motivation in games and it won’t be long before you hear him say that the jersey or the badge didn’t inspire him, he played for the other 14 mates on the pitch. Respect isn’t limited to being between players on the same team, one should respect the players of the opposition too, whether in not showboating in a 95 – 0 victory or not being over confident as a several capped player against a relative novice. Julian v Tom French in last year’s HEC final, I am not saying Julian did not respect him, I sure he did, but there was the opportunity to assume he would master him, a situation that did not arise, there again McGeechan & Dowd were never likely to select a player they thought unready. By all accounts the Gloucester Centre recalled from loan to Moseley did well against Aaron last week. We should respect our club and others from the tea boy to the president and the fans and their right to hold their own views. Respect the traditions of clubs, it is right to be quiet for kicks at Welford Road, it is equally right to be noisy at other grounds although it is hypocritical to be quiet only for your own side’s kicks.

In my view respect is being eroded by the increasing commercialisation of the game. I go to a rugby match to see two sides compete in a hard and skilful display. I do not need to be told to cheer my side on, I do not need razzamatazz and cheerleaders, I do not need music to excite me after a score has been made and I definitely don’t need sponsorship deals relayed to me over the PA whilst the game is in play. It is disrespectful to play potentially annoying music as the opposition take the field, what master of wit and repartee thinks that the Wurzels are a great accompaniment to Gloucester taking the pitch, or Enter the Clowns, or the Benny Hill theme for others?

I like to see the players shake hands at the end of the game and take their time coming off the pitch and definitely through the tunnel. I also like to see the players thank their fans, win, lose or draw after a match, we can be so much more than revenue generation units as the mighty support shown when down to 13 men against Leinster in the HEC this year showed.

I would like to see the leaders of our game show some respect for the players and for us the fans. The season has no structure, teams and therefore we, the fans, are deprived of players for crucial games, if given the choice of having Leicester visit with a full squad available or one ravaged by international unavailability, I am pretty sure most clubs would opt for the latter. The fact that this is a random decision based on the fixture list puts some clubs at an advantage and others at a disadvantage. The continuing mistrust between the RFU and the professional Clubs, regardless of the new deal, is divisive and does neither side any credit and yet we as the punters are expected to shut up, cough up and turn up. The RFU couldn’t really give a hoot about falling revenue and gate money for the clubs, they can fill Twickenham at exorbitant prices, whether those that fill Twickenham know anything, or care, about the game is irrelevant. I suspect the RFU might just start to care when enough people refuse to watch poor quality fare at extortionate prices and there is a correlation between the quality of the England side and the strength of the club game.

The Leaders of our game should also show a little respect for the average intelligence of us followers of rugby. The previous RFU survey “would you prefer central contracts or a poke in the eye with a sharp stick” was almost laughable in its construction so as to give the answer the RFU wanted. I say almost laughable in that one should not laugh at a seriously underhanded attempt to subvert opinion from those who claim to be “for the good of the game”. Similarly the closed shop mentality of the established international sides toward Argentina is appalling. At the same time as effectively barring Argentina, a rugby playing nation, from meaningful development, they seek to emasculate the game on a global basis to try and make it appeal to the Australian public where it comes a poor 3rd behind Aussie Rules and Rugby League. The only rational, to my mind, bases for such behaviour are: Self preservation, “Eeh Gad, those Argies did look a bit useful, better not arrange too many fixtures against them or people might suspect we are not the best” or money – Argentina do not bring as much cold hard cash to the table as TV rights in Australia would, for goodness sake the game is still amateur there!
The former has gone on for years in the old club system where hard, physical teams found it difficult to get fixtures against “Rugger” clubs. I wonder from which background the majority of the RFU come from?

When it comes to passion and rivalry we tread a very thin line, we on this site, are all passionate about the game. We also need to ensure that passion does not spill over into hostility. I find the Bath v Bristol “banter” on their sites puerile in the extreme and while admitting some are just winding the others up, there is a real edge to some of it which is meant to be unpleasant.

Enjoyment? Even Masochists enjoy what they do or they wouldn’t do it, having said that, there is another thin line between Masochism and rugby watching in some of the 6N games I’ve seen so far in this year’s tournament. The greatest expression of enjoyment is when I see 50 year olds playing for Old Codswallopians 5ths, they never rose higher than the 3rds, but they have turned out every week since they were 16 because they love it, not just the playing but the 360° experience of the game. The off the pitch element is highly important, having coached Mini and Junior rugby for a number of years in the past, the number of families I know in our community has grown, those families have not only enjoyed their children’s participation, but they too have come along to the club and developed a social life as well.

As for inclusivity, I note the RFU ask for you age, starting at 1, that’s pretty inclusive!

Discipline is a must for the game as is respect for the Referee. You simply cannot play the game without these elements or it will be a bloodbath. Discipline also extends to us fans too and the necessity to take the eye patch off at times should be noted. Interestingly most teams have an enforcer to ensure that what is and is not acceptable is policed, ironically this is usually achieved through the disciplined use of transgression of the game’s laws. Some clubs even have internal enforcers to ensure that the club’s ethos is upheld, oh to have been a fly on the wall in the days of Deano, Johnno and the ABC club.

Sportsmanship and honesty for me are highly entwined, as is gamesmanship. Too often we are now seeing exaggerated swan dives following contact in order to procure a penalty, some of our own players have taken to this without need. I see gamesmanship as bending or breaking the Laws and indeed some of this can be sportsmanship, offside, slowing ball, having a contact lens breather for the team. Where I believe it is wrong is in gratuitous violence or trying to get someone else into trouble.

Physicality, there are few, if any team sports that are more physically demanding. It always amuses me when people accuse the Piano Shifters of not being nimble, fast ball players when at the same time they do not criticise the Piano Players for not being able to ruck, maul and scrimmage as well as the Shifters.

Hopefully this will stop our site going dead for a while and might provoke some response.

Bookmark or share this story with:

• Digg
• Delicious
• Facebook
• Reddit
• Stumbleupon

Related Articles:

• Campanula Terminus

SPORTNETWORK SPECIALS