Sporting warmth in the cold, empty stadium

Brendan Gallagher delves into some of rugby’s most enduring images, their story and why they are still so impactful

What’s happening here?

It’s October 17 this season at Sandy Park, Exeter and friends, rivals and sometime Scotland colleagues Finn Russell and Stuart Hogg are enjoying a post-match beer at the deserted stadium. The Exeter Chiefs have just beaten Racing 31-27 to take their first European Cup title after a thrilling game that deserved to be played in front of a capacity crowd at the Velodrome in Marseilles which is where it was originally scheduled to be played. In the end it was watched, in the flesh, by just the replacements and medics of both teams. And, of course, the rest of us on our settees back home.

What’s the story behind the picture?

Rugby, more than possibly any sport, was adversely affected by Covid-19 in 2020. With intense physical contact party to the game’s DNA and with sweat, spittle and hoary breath everywhere it was clearly going to be one of the most problematic sports to continue playing in terms of limiting the virus spreading. We had to wait patiently at the end of the queue before there was any chance of meaningful elite action resuming.

In addition, gala rugby occasions rely massively on huge tribal gatherings in big stadia but also the spilling out into the carparks, side streets and bars where supporters enjoy a long civilised social day on the pop. None of this fitted well with Covid and Rugby had to look on enviously while the world got to grips with what could be permitted and how the elite game could adapt. Sadly contact rugby within the community game had to be closed down completely and nine months on that is still the default setting.

What happened next?

Well, against the odds, elite rugby in the northern hemisphere finally restarted in August last year with the Premiership opting to conclude the 2019-20 regular season while the PRO14 went straight to the play-offs and in France the T14 was binned for the season with a new campaign scheduled to start in September. The remaining Six Nations games were re-scheduled for the October preceded by the knockout stages of the Heineken European Cup.

It made for an uncomfortably heavy schedule partly offset by the reality that clubs simply had to use their full player resources but one of the biggest challenges was getting used to the Covid protocols – in training and on match day – and the constant testing.

And the empty stadia. It’s still a challenge. On TV we get the canned ambient noise and when the producer uses the close-up shots you can be fooled into thinking nothing much has changed. At the ground itself it is still a desert though, the only noise and atmosphere coming from the players. Some pedants rather objected to their OTT celebrations for a tackle or turnover, but if that is what’s required to get the adrenaline flowing so be it. In the absence of crowds the players have to tap into something.

Why is the picture iconic?

This is surely the image that sums up Rugby in 2020. The depressing, cold echoing stadiums, the loneliness, poignancy and sheer weirdness of playing in empty stadia yet also the defiance of the players and the sport and the determination of all those involved not to let cherished old traditions fall by the wayside.

A shared beer is a nod to normality but there is that slight awkwardness. Despite having played in a full-on 80-minute game against each other you sense that neither is quite sure of the Covid protocols off the pitch while enjoying their tinnies. Somebody out there is bound to pull them up if they cross some ill-defined line.

What should have been an emotional moment of glory – or despair – played out in front of nearly 68,000 screeching fans in the scorching sun of the south of France in May has morphed into a quiet reflective beer in the funereal silence of the Sandy Park dugout in blustery, cloudy October.

Out on the pitch some of the Exeter players dug out smartphones from their kit bags and were facetiming family and friends as they tried to enjoy what was the greatest moment of their club careers, the moment more than any that they wanted to be surrounded by those who have shared the journey with them.

Russell and Hogg, old mates from Glasgow days, haven’t seen each other since much earlier in the year when the former fell out with Scotland coach Gregor Townsend and concentrated on playing for Racing and enjoying life in Paris. It’s a reunion in the strangest of circumstances and there is much gossip to catch up on. Later that night Russell was heading to Edinburgh to join the Scotland squad having patched up his differences with Townsend.

Footnote: Just a week later Exeter were celebrating at another empty stadium – Twickenham – after a 19-13 win over Wasps saw them complete a Premiership-European double.

“Gala rugby occasions rely massively on huge tribal gatherings in big stadia”