Watching the Wallabies play Argentina’s Los Pumas at the weekend made me realise that I had a privileged childhood.
I was fortunate to grow up in the 1970’s and 1980’s. A time when rugby had every right to claim to be the ‘game they play in heaven.’
The players themselves were amateurs, although many received a ‘gift’ for a good performance. They may not have been paid to play, but they were professional in their outlook. The reason being that they loved to play. Their enjoyment came from the love of the game rather than it being a job. These men despite having full time jobs still put in the training and in Wales’ case gave up their time as a group to come together and practice on Friday evenings, when many international teams only came together the week of the International scheduled the following Saturday.
On a match day the great Welsh team of that era would stay at the Angel Hotel across the road from the Cardiff Arms Park. They were right at the heart of where the fans were gathering for the game. They would come downstairs as an individual or in a small group and fight their way through the throng across the street to the ground. There were no luxury coaches, no headphones, no ignoring the fans, and no thought of them being no more of a hindrance than the journey taking longer than it might of with so many well-wishers.
After watching Australia and Argentina play out a spirited draw, I could not help wondering if I was indeed reaching that stage in life when old men romanticise about the games of their youth. Was the game really better back then?
Luckily today with YouTube and some old DVDs – and still having a DVD player in my possession – I was able to go back and watch parts of the games from childhood. Games that I may well have watched at my school rugby coach Mr Shipp’s little cottage, as he invited those of us from the school first XV who were keen to come and watch the five nations as it was then, or Rugby Special on a Sunday afternoon. This was an incredible privilege and made one feel very grown up.
As his wife brought us in buttered crumpets on those cold winter days we would be sat on the floor with the fire roaring mesmerised by the speed, fast feet and dexterity of the players flitting across the television screen. As well as by the commentary of Bil McLaren and Nigel Starmer-Smith. When it was time to go, we would actually try and replicate the sidesteps we had witnessed that day.
Rugby back then was truly a game for all shapes and sizes. The backs of that era look like normal sized men, unlike the backs of today. The players of yesterday were a nippy MG, or in some cases an e-type jaguar, weaving in and out of traffic, while today’s backs are more like a souped up off road Four wheel drive or a Mac truck ploughing through whatever lies in front of them.
The free-flowing running rugby of that era is no more. There simply isn’t the space to allow the players to run. No longer are forwards committed to the ruck and the maul, now they fan out from the back of both to close down that space and prevent the opposition having the room to spin the ball wide and attack.
If modern sport is about entertainment, then rugby by allowing such play has become the antithesis of that belief. For the rule-makers have allowed such tactics to snuff out the moments that made the game thrilling, its players god-like and the game earn its heavenly status.
When one went back to watch the games of yesteryear it was evident how much space the players had in which to run. Now they do not even have enough space to work up a head of steam.
Other noticeable things were the lack of substitutes, so fatigue late in a gruelling game played a key part in the outcomes. Scrums incredibly in sometimes dreadful conditions did not collapse with the predictable regularity of today. Which some may say shows that this part of the game has become over-theorised and over-coached. What is most evident is in that era the ball was put in straight at a scrum and not fed into the second row! If it wasn’t straight a penalty ensued.
Now it takes on average close to a minute for a scrum to set. You then have to hope that the front rows engage satisfactorily first time. At the weekend there were 10 scrums in the match, the clock continued to run while the forwards were getting into position, so ten minutes of play were lost.
There were not the substitutes we see today. Players received treatment on the pitch and play continued around them. Now there are so many breaks for this and that, and so many extra personnel coming out of the pitch it is farcical.
Another thing that was evident from the bygone era was that if there was an altercation it was a genuine altercation. There were no hookers punching people in the thigh. If a hooker was going to punch a player they did not hold back. Now we are not for one moment condoning such behaviour, but simply trying to illustrate that just because these players were not being paid this was no handbags at ten paces, no puffing the chest out and pushing an opposition player. If there was an incident between two players it was for real. When one hears of some of the things that went on in the dark depths of a ruck and maul in this era, one wonders how many of the modern players would have coped. Many probably wouldn’t have.
In that era it took special qualities to be an International rugby player. It was not just about being a good athlete, or spending ‘x’ amount of hours in gym building up muscles on top of muscles.
Today’s rugby internationals are without question incredible physical specimens, but one wonders if one of the reasons rugby has lost much of its following is due to the fact that these athletes are no longer relatable to then general populous. Size in rugby today does matter, in fact it is almost essential.
That is why seeing seeing a player like South Africa’s Cheslin Kolbe playing at the highest level restores a believe that as a sport it is not all about muscle and brawn. Kolbe is after all only 171cm (5ft 6in) tall and weighs 80kgs when many around him are closing in on 100kgs or above. The All Blacks Damien McKenzie is another of the slight players drifting back into the game. He is maginally taller at 177cm (5ft 8in) but lighter at 78kgs. It is no coincidence that these are the players that excite in the game today. For they have the fast feet, the sidestep and the speed of yesteryear, the only problem is they have so little space in which to showcase their skills. Is it any wonder that both have filled the Full back position, one where there is a little more time and space?
Rugby has done a great deal of navel gazing in the past ten years, trying to work out what has gone wrong. Yet it would appear the answer is right before everyone’s eyes. The one aspect of the game that made it so mesmerising has almost been eliminated from the game completely and that was running rugby. The rule amendments have restricted the space in which players can run with the ball. Needless to say that is why we now see more kicking.
Ironically in an era where we are told sport is all about entertainment and athletes are paid a very good wage, the entertainment is inferior to what was on offer when the players were paid a pittance. Which proves that professionalism does not guarantee the success of a sport.
As has been the case for over a hundred years in rugby and in any sport you care to mention the players make the sport and create the memories that we recall for decades to come. Without the players and their being able to showcase their individual brilliance and skill sport has little to offer. We mere mortals watch to be in awe of those representing our nations, players who can do things that we only dreamt of. Sure a win is a win no matter what, but most fans would love to see their side win with style and put in a performance that they can take pride in.
Australian rugby talks of their desire to play running rugby, but unfortunately it has not been evident for a while. That is not the numerous coaches’ fault and it is not the players fault, it is unfortunately the fault of the rule makers who have allowed the space between the teams to be condensed, and have caused many a game to simply become a war of attrition. There is little or no room for flair.
So I am grateful I grew up in the era I did. That I was able to witness the great Welsh sides of the 1970’s housing true legends such as Gareth Edwards, Phil Bennett and Barry John, to name a few. That I saw the Wallabies Grand Slam tour of the United Kingdom and Ireland in 1984 with the silky skills of Mark Ella, Andrew Slack and a young up and coming David Campese.
You look at that era and the players that had the ability to excite were many; It wasn’t just the backs either. One wonders what wonderful running rugby we would see from today’s talented backs if only the game were opened up again.
