Rugby Blog
Cheating, fighting and alleged drug taking. Are we entering a new era of English Rugby?
by John Ainsworth
Cheating – yes that’s what it amounts to. Dean Richards, one of the finest figures of modern day English rugby, and the man who led Leicester Tigers to back-to-back European cup victories and 4 league titles, has been banned for 3 years, and the ban has been made worldwide by the IRB.
We all know that cheating goes on in any sport, but in the last few years English rugby has been under the microscope and hitting the headlines for the wrong reasons. When Rob Andrew took the England squad on tour to New Zealand, stories came out about players being involved in late night antics. Then we had Celeb man Matt Stevens, who tested positive for class ‘A’ drugs.
Then during an end of season party it was widely reported that Bath and Harlequins decided a punch up was the best way forward. This led to four more Bath players being hauled before an internal enquiry, and subsequently led to Justin Harrison retiring.
Michael Lipman , Alex Crockett and Andrew Higgins all faced an RFU disciplinary hearing. While any charges relating to the misuse of drugs were dropped on the first day of the hearing, the players all received nine-month bans for failing to take two drugs tests during Bath’s internal hearing.
Higgins has since retired from the game claiming to be ‘profoundly disillusioned’ – his only concern was to clear his name of drug taking. Lipman and Crockett have appealed against the nine-month bans handed down.
All this begs the question – ‘What has happened to our sport?’ Rugby was once known as a thug’s game played by gentleman. Dean Richards is a man I have always respected; his ethos has always been hard work and team spirit – has that spirit been broken by a player trying to save his career?
Tom Williams (we must believe) was happy enough to take the blood capsule on to the pitch and he did as he was asked for his team. But when the shit hit the fan he soon broke ranks: this was the ERC plan - they had footage which has not been shown on TV. They knew he was not alone, put couldn’t prove anything else. So they hit the player with a long ban and he reacted with the support of the players’ union.
I don’t personally condone cheating, but how many times have we seen a team being battered in the scrum and for them to run out of props? Taking away, a clear advantage to the attacking team. Harlequins wanted to bring a kicker back on. Other players in the past have mentioned blood capsules and one player even mentioned tomato sauce in his book.
What shocks me about the story is how Harlequins had thought this out. Why go to such an elaborate plan when surely a player could have pulled up with a tight hamstring or dead leg or even a knock to the head. Who could have proved any of that?
While I can’t condone any of this, I feel the ban handed down to Dean Richards is appalling: 3 years for this yet you try to blind someone by eye-gouging and land only an eight-week ban.
There is no room for cheating or for the use of Class ‘A’ or even performance drugs in Rugby. We need to get back to the spirit of the game and re-establish rugby morals, which have been applauded around the world.
Of course there is an easy way to do this: make sure your players don’t take cocaine and have a couple of back-up kickers in your team!
Has the 2009 Lions Tour Been Devalued?
By John Ainsworth
Well, we are now two weeks in to the Lions tour of 2009. I had been counting down the days to this tour. I was hoping - well more than hoping - planning to follow the team round South Africa. The deposit was paid and the girlfriend was signed up to the idea (only if we can go on a safari, she said!!!).
Then bang, she falls pregnant!
And I wouldn’t want to leave my little girl(s).
Am I missing out? To quote Ian McGeechan, `The Lions in South Africa are formidable’.
But are they?
The South African coach Peter de Villiers has kept back all but one South African squad member, preventing them from playing for their clubs against the Lions. Only the prop Deon Carstens who will play for the Sharks tomorrow night has been released.
The Free State Cheetahs coach, Naka Drotske, said the policy was contributing to the poor attendances so far and he felt the Lions would not be battle-hardened come the first Test, while the Sharks, who will be without nine of their Springboks tomorrow, believe it is unfair on the players.
"A good few of the players in the Springbok squad will end up not being used in the Tests so they will end up not playing against the Lions," said the Sharks captain, Johann Muller. "It is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity so how sad is that?"
In truth you are not only denying members of the squad the honour of facing the Lions, in what must be a memorable experience for the chosen clubs, but what about the fans? Much has been made of the players left out, how about the fans who have spent the last four years saving like mad to tour the grounds of South Africa and see the Lions Play.
Only to be greeted by reserve team players?!
Is this the measures of a team that wants to win at all costs? We know the Lions tour of ‘97 still hurts the Springboks, but did they really need to hurt the fans?
