In the scrum | Japan 2019 officially kicked into touch, now it’s off to France for the 2023 Rugby World Cup
- Only time will tell if lessons learned from experience with first tier two host Japan will aid growth of rugby globally
It’s a hard old game. That’s been a familiar refrain from coaches to players and commentators to fans over the past six weeks of the Rugby World Cup. Few can debate that either, and this hard old game is not one where you will age particularly well. The players who were on the pitch for the final on Saturday when South Africa beat England 32-12 will carry the physical residue of this match for the rest of their life.
But no matter, they will risk it all for team and country because rugby players are some of the most stoic and virtuous athletes you will ever have the pleasure of encountering. They can be raw and brutal because the sport is both raw and brutal. However, few sports have such a deep rooted code of respect for their game and their opponents as rugby. It’s such an unshakeable bond, that even their fans have taken the oath.
In six weeks, I can honestly say that despite endless scrums together over an ocean or two of lager and ale, I never so much as heard a voice raised between opposing fans. It’s frankly uncanny and goes a long way towards explaining why the Hong Kong Sevens, a feast of debauchery, is largely free of crowd violence.
It’s most certainly not a hard old game off the pitch and that was made quite clear when I shared a lift with the All Blacks’ Kieran Reid. He was humble and engaging and you would have had absolutely no idea he was the captain of one of the most storied and successful teams in the world.
When he started asking me questions about myself, I wanted to tell him, listen man that is not how it usually works around big time sportsmen, the majority of whom don’t have a curious bone in their body. But that’s why there are really no rock star players in rugby, only rock star teams.
