Benefits to rugby with no closed borders
Attempts to open up the PRO12 competition by offering access to the North Americans and South Africans appear to have foundered for now
AS THE voices preaching the benefits of isolationism become ever louder, those making the case for the likes of Georgia and Romania being given an opportunity to compete for a place in the Six Nations Championship are probably off trend.
The competitive case should be irresistible and only strengthened by the fact that, in spite of their respective results in the autumn, Georgia – who were heavily beaten by Scotland – rightly remain higher placed in the world rankings than Italy – who beat South Africa. This is largely due to past performance in major competition.
The Georgians’ performance at the last three World Cups has demonstrated how good they can be when given decent time together, so those comparative performances illustrate the difficulties they face when denied exposure to quality competition.
That will only worsen if nothing is done about it but, perhaps reflecting this Brexit/Front National era in the UK and France, there is no will among the Six Nations to open the doors.
Similarly, attempts to open up the PRO12 provincial competition by offering access to the North Americans and South Africans appear to have foundered for now.
By contrast, having been commercially outflanked by its rival code ever since rugby union introduced its version of a World Cup 30 years ago then went open eight years later, rugby league has shown its willingness to engage in expansionism by introducing the Toronto Wolfpack into the lowest tier of the European professional game as of this season.
Perhaps necessity has been the mother of innovation where the 13-man code is concerned since league has to start showing some imagination if it is to capitalise on the progress made in terms of widening interest in the sport beyond its geographically very restricted traditional heartlands.
Consequently, after spending Saturday in the rather bleak setting of Aberdeen’s Woodside Sports Complex watching Aberdeen Warriors’ abortive attempt to become the first Scottish side to win a Challenge Cup tie on home soil, it has been interesting to engage in discussion about the possibility of a professional Scottish team being set up.
Having revealed in Herald Sport this week that a potential investor has made a financial proposal to Scotland Rugby League, I was then directed towards Radio Yorkshire’s podcast RLonRY, which previewed the forthcoming season and included discussion of Toronto’s participation. That led naturally to further expansion closer to home and in particular building on the international performance of the Scotland team and what is happening in Ireland where much more attention has been paid to developing the domestic game.
There is understandable frustration on that front among those engaged in what remains an embryonic club set up in Scotland, with Craig Parslow, head coach and president of the Warriors having founded the club six years ago, explaining why.
“There’s far too much focus on the international team,” he asserted, explaining that his involvement is down to a passion for the sport that began when he was in the army.
“We’ve completely lost touch with grassroots rugby league in my opinion. People keep asking me why I keep doing this, telling me there’s nothing there. But you go out there and there’s a 16-year-old kiddie playing, I’ve got people playing the game for the first time in that Challenge Cup time.
“It’s the lack of game time and the lack of training that’s the difference. Some of the guys I originally had as kids back in 2011 want to play the game, but because there’s no games they’re going to play union.”
Keith Hogg, the chairman of Scotland Rugby League, says he has initiated a review of how the organisation runs things and that should offer the potential to work more effectively.
It is a version of rugby that is much easier to understand and potentially has an appeal in places that there is traditional resistance to rugby union, but it must fully harness all available energy if lost ground is to be recovered.
AND ANOTHER THING…
IT was seen as a mark of outstanding bravery when, in engaging with the enemy at the battle of Copenhagen, Admiral Lord Nelson reputedly placed a telescope to his blind eye and proclaimed: “I see no ships.”
The same virtue does not appear to have been attributable to a current British peer when, in explaining inaction in sport’s war against drugs, he claimed to have seen no emails.
As alluded to previously in this space, the best that can be said of Seb Coe’s performance at the IAAF is that his lack of curiosity in failing to examine all that was happening around him suggests he is wholly unsuited to the office he holds.