The Case for More Than a Game

Now, it might not have escaped the notice of those who pay attention to the media in New Zealand that there is a certain event going on over in France at the moment of vital strategic, diplomatic and - let's be honest here - psychological and spiritual importance. Yes, the Rugby World Cup is dominating the airwaves at the moment (luckily for TV3 News, Rugby qualifies as both News and Sport - or at least, it does in New Zealand), and try as one might, one can't get away from it.

Though, at first glance, getting away from it should be a fairly easy thing to do. The matches aren't played every day, and they are on at ridiculous times due to the time difference, and they take place over the course of months. But, as the title of this blogspot suggests, Rugby is now more than a game. In fact, there is so much else around the game, that the games themselves almost don't seem to matter.

Take, for example, Johnny Wilkinson, the pride and hope of the English rugby team. Does he actually play rugby anymore? And yet, does the media - and the public in general, of which I count myself as I am definitely not a rugby fanatic - know and/or concentrate on any other member of the English team?

And then there is the New Zealand Rugby squad. Now, I appreciate seeing brawny, fit men running around the French countryside topless as much as the next man, and Richie McCaw has always seemed to me a fairly solid bloke and a good leader, but the deification of individuals like Richie McCaw (albeit in fairly humourous ways sometimes) and the rest of the team does seem a bit excessive. Some speak of the unbelievable pressure on the All Blacks to bring home the Webb Ellis trophy but, much like the Hollywood stars and starlets these men now seem to be emulating, a lot of it is brought on themselves and the NZRFU. Trading on their images as sportsmen of the highest calibre (which I am not doubting, let it be said), and using that image for financial benefit (good on them), it's not all that surprising when the public develop the expectation for them to live up to that hype.

However, all this is very much an indication of the times in which we live. Once, Rugby was an amateur sport, but now the players are paid professionals who are well remunerated to live and breathe rugby - and sell clothing on the side. I am sure traditionalists look back and see these changes as having destroyed the "purity" of rugby, and who can really argue that?

Rugby really is not just a game anymore: it is a way of life; it is a job. The boys are there not just to win a game, but to sell the game, even off the pitch. They are Hollywood stars in the a big budget extravaganza that also carries the additional pressure of the hopes and dreams and patriotism of their sporting public. They are warriors (different code I know, perhaps "soldiers" instead?) fighting in the interests of their nation states in battles where victory is the only acceptable outcome. They are images and idols, who wear undies, use phones, fly with Air New Zealand and drink Coke (all for free, of course; the rest of us aren't really as "on the team" as that...). And I am sure they themselves wouldn't have it any other way.

To finish off this particular rant, I think two verdicts are in order:

Verdict 1: Rugby is not what it once was, though the players seem quite a bit prettier.
Verdict 2: As much as I think the All Blacks are going to win, I have to support the underdogs. And who can be more underdoggish than the French team that suffered humiliatingly at the hands of the Argentines? Viva la France!