NOW I WANT TO TACKLE HOMELESSNESS …AND RACISM
says Sale wing MARLAND YARDE
MARLAND YARDE has grown up a lot since signing for Sale three years ago, after being released by Harlequins. His maturity is evident in a drive to tackle homelessness in Manchester — and racism in rugby.
The 28-year-old England wing’s former club had grown exasperated by his conduct after he repeatedly missed training sessions without adequate explanation. There was a danger he would squander his considerable talent but the move north has had a transformative effect on his career and his character.
Yarde recently became a father and, by his own admission, he has recognised the importance of ‘giving something back and using my platform in the right ways’. The St Lucia-born player’s campaigning streak has been put to good use of late after a chance encounter at a cashpoint.
‘I went out for dinner and came across a guy who looked a bit like me so I got speaking to him,’ he said. ‘He wanted some money. I said I’d go to a shop and buy him some food and drink instead. He got talking and said Centrepoint is the place where he finds shelter and somebody to talk to. It was like a lightbulb moment for me.
‘I just thought that with Christmas coming and in these cold months it was an opportunity for me to do something to make a difference. I went back to the club and said to the boys and the owner that I’d like to donate clothes to this charity. Everyone bought into it and we donated more than 1,000 items of clothes to Centrepoint.
‘I didn’t want that to be a one- off; it’s something I’ve got passionately into now. We’ve set up fundraisers and Just Giving pages and I’ve been in contact with restaurants who are going to sponsor hot-food nights for some kids in Manchester. We’ve also got a plan to raise money by sleeping rough one night — we’re looking at doing it in February.’
Yarde’s target is to contribute to accommodation being found for 1,000 children and young adults sleeping rough in his adopted city, where footballers Vincent Kompany and Marcus Rashford have already done such sterling deeds on behalf of important charities. ‘In sport we often take, take, take and don’t always give back enough to our communities, which we should do,’ he said.’
There is another campaigning agenda — a desire to combat racism in rugby. Yarde has been frustrated by the sport’s reluctance to take meaningful action and its willingness to hide behind hollow slogans and gestures.
This issue was reinforced by the recent saga involving Argentina captain Pablo Matera, who was demoted and suspended for racist comments on social media years ago, only to be reinstated. Yarde fears the rugby establishment does not believe it has a problem to address, but he knows from first-hand experience that it does.
‘We have to get away from this idea that rugby is on a pedestal, above everyone else and that racism doesn’t exist,’ he said. ‘It does exist. We’re not immune.
‘There need to be protocols to deal with it and education about it. We have loads of people coming in throughout the year from the RFU and Rugby Players Association to tell us about gambling, anti- doping and all this stuff, so there should be something on racism, too. It would be a way of educating people about the effects of it — to help people understand how it feels to be racially abused.
‘Instead of turning a blind eye to it or sweeping it under the carpet, it’s important to speak about it. For me, there’s been too much of a box-ticking exercise on racism. What has changed from kneeling before a game and all the controversy about who is kneeling and who is not kneeling? The gestures were great to highlight it but what is happening now? Nothing.
‘We got a message across but what are the RFU and others doing now to help, apart from putting up a few signs on the side of pitches about racism? There’s still nothing in place. If a racist act was to happen in a game tomorrow, what would happen? No one knows where they stand.
‘I sometimes feel that it’s like this because there are not many black players in the league. Maybe it’s not a topic of real importance and urgency because there are so few of us.
‘I’d prefer it if there were no gestures or slogans if there’s not going to be actions put in place to educate people and resolve these issues. I’d say let’s just get rid of the ticking- the- box exercises because I felt we just did those because football did it before us and cricket did it before us.’
Yarde will start for Sale tonight in their Heineken European Champions Cup clash with Edinburgh in Salford. It is their second game in the post- Steve Diamond era, after the Cheshire club’s stalwart director of rugby abruptly left his post. The man he recruited from Quins describes it as ‘sad’ and a ‘massive shock’, while paying tribute HoWEVER, to Diamond’s impact.
he is adamant that the Sharks squad are equipped to take the upheaval in their stride and still challenge for titles. ‘ As players, we just have to crack on because we can’t afford to have any hangover from this,’ he said. ‘We have numerous internationals, guys who have played around the world and guys who’ve been here for 10 years, so there’s plenty of experience to cope with this.’
This weekend’s European programme has been savagely impacted by Covid outbreaks — reviving grim memories for Sale after their Premiership campaign last season was wrecked by 27 positive test results. The club were forced to deny that players had attended parties at a Manchester university in the aftermath of their Premiership Cup triumph and it left a bad taste.
Exeter and Bath have had games cancelled and Yarde said: ‘ We know what that feels like because of what happened to us. Last season we probably should have finished in the top four but we had that taken away. It’s difficult to take. I’m surprised stories haven’t come out about uni parties in Exeter or something like that!
‘It was quite hilarious at the time, hearing all the white noise around our outbreak, which was completely false. I was asked if I had been to a uni party which is quite funny because I’m 28, I’ve got a family at home and I don’t even know where the uni is after being here three years! I made sure my name was cleared.’
Perhaps Yarde is still being stalked by past perceptions, but he is a changed man.
These days, he is using his sporting platform wisely.