Players show their heart... while a few fans show they’re plonkers
COLUMNIST
THE behaviour of the fans has been as much a talking point as the tactics of the Welsh team through rugby’s autumn tests.
I’ve certainly experienced a few things I haven’t seen before. Like a vocal void. Apart from Trystan Llyr Griffith’s beautiful rendition of Calon Lan at half time there was no singing at any point during the South Africa match.
While native football fans are starting to give the WNO chorus a run for their money with their stirring a cappella anthems, their ovalball counterparts couldn’t even manage half a verse of Hymns & Arias.
If Kiwi convert Hadleigh Parkes can belt out Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau within hours of becoming Welsh surely 65,000 indigenous supporters can exercise their vocal cords occasionally.
Rather more concerning than these signs of musical decline are the indicators that crowd behaviour is coarsening. This isn’t hooliganism on a grand scale. But with social media amplification, anecdotal evidence of unpleasant, aggressive and bigoted individual incidents paints a pretty tawdry picture.
I witnessed a few such episodes myself. Not least a respectablelooking older chap being ejected from the stadium for fighting. So bizarre.
Those who put all rugby’s spectator ills down to clueless “eventers” and women in sparkly Stetsons might have been surprised to see the foul-mouthed and belligerent bloke I had to share a row with who fell into neither of these much-maligned categories.
He knew his rugby alright, as his club tie indicated. He was just too bladdered to concentrate on this particular game.
So whether you’re an egg-chasing fanatic or a plastic who thinks a forward pass is a fruity chat-up line, everyone’s a plonker when they’re plastered. It’s a bigger Welsh cultural issue.
The problem is not so much Wales’ changing relationship with rugby as Wales’ continuing bond with binge drinking.
If the crowd have come in for criticism, Wales’ transitional and injuryhit squad has also endured a fair amount of flak through the autumn as the other home nations have delivered more emphatic performances against southern hemisphere opposition.
But after the team edged that tense encounter against the Springboks on Saturday, they made a lovely gesture towards a group of former players who remind all of us that sometimes a sense of perspective is needed when the Welsh rugby rollercoaster appears to be hitting yet another twist.
Among the 65,000 spectators at the game were 27 severely injured players attending the Welsh Rugby Charitable Trust’s annual Family Day with parents, partners, children and grandchildren.
Spanning grassroots to the elite game, all have suffered life-changing injuries, many so severe they will never walk again, are paraplegic or tetraplegic, with some having undergone amputations as a direct result of their injuries.
The Trust – which I’m proud to serve on the board of – has been caring for male and female players in these devastating situations for more than 40 years.
Help provided includes home adaptations, hoists, wheelchairs and specially adapted cars to restore mobility and independence.
The Trust also helps with rehabilitation, career advice and retraining, provides support for players to embark on or continue academic study and gives Christmas and summer holiday grants.
The Family Day, built around an autumn test, is a highlight for the injured players and trustees alike. It began on a poignant note as we bowed our heads in memory of the two injured players – Carwyn Owen and Victor Morris – we had lost over the past year.
Then the fun unfolded. Trustee Rupert Moon was on his customary sparkling form as MC and had drafted in singer and broadcaster Wynne Evans to add to our festivities, leading a rousing chorus of Cwm Rhondda beyond compare.
And there was a match-day postscript that gave the injured players a particular boost, as Trust Chairman and WRU President Dennis Gethin revealed: “On Saturday evening after the match I was handed an envelope by Ken Owens. Inside was a significant sum which the team donated to the Trust.
“It represents the collection of ‘fines’ levied against individual players who fail to follow various team protocols, for example wearing the wrong T-shirt for training, failing to be on the bus at the exact appointed time etc.
“They asked Ken to find me and give me the cash for our injured players.
“It was a magnificent gesture. This is not the first time the Welsh squad has shown their softer side. I was so proud of them in Samoa earlier this year when, to a man, they donated all their boots and rugby kit because they saw how little the Samoans had.
But Saturday’s gift touched me particularly because of my involvement with our injured players. I know how much each one of them will appreciate this.
“Not only was it a substantial amount, the fact it came from the boys themselves will mean so much to our injured players. To each and every one of them, the Welsh team are heroes and nobody supports Welsh rugby more than they do. Watching Wales always lifts their spirits.”
Given the devastating impact rugby injury has made on their lives, their devotion to the game is indeed remarkable and inspiring and as we reflect on some troubling developments in crowd culture if we need to remind ourselves what it is to be a true Welsh rugby fan we need look no further than these men and women.