The build up to this game and the excitement of the result reminded me of why I used to really love rugby. When I was a kid and the All Blacks went north to play Ireland, Wales, Scotland and England they always played the local teams midweek. Most of the games were pretty straight-forward, some of them were muddy, brutal affairs and occasionally they were magic. Over time it was decided to drop these games, to put sponsorship on the All Black jerseys, to let the All Blacks name be used to promote American cars and Australian cereals, pay everyone too much, and then let them go off-shore to make even more money.
Awhile ago I read two books. One was called The Book of Fame. It was a novel about the Invincibles tour by Lloyd Jones. The other book was a history book about the same tour. This was back in the day when you had to take a steamship to the other side of the world and be prepared to be away from home for months and months on end. The All Blacks played all comers, winning every game except a very dubiously referred match against a certain Welsh club team. It was hard work that tour. They played all the time, even with injury, and the travelling was long and hard. Oh, and they got paid bugger all. If you like rugby you should give the Lloyd Jones book a go.
What struck me about the book and watching the game against Munster was how much the All Blacks are admired in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The last time I remember the All Blacks doing a proper tour there were a few morons in the British press who thought the All Blacks should stop doing the haka. If these critics had bothered to watch how the haka was received by the crowds in the provinces they would have known what a dumb idea this was. The crowds loved it – they listened in silence and gave a roar at the end. Just like when the kicker from either side lined up a kick at goal. Did you hear the crowd at the Munster game? Even when the All Blacks kicked they were silent, and then clapped. We used to do this. In New Zealand this also used to be considered good form.
A few months ago I was listening to the panel on National Radio and one of the panellists commented on seeing an old faded sign behind the counter in a rather old faded shop. The sign said: Service Before Self. The panellist said that he thought most people would think that this was quite a quaint idea nowadays. Of course the most extreme form of this idea was somewhat discredited by asking hundreds of thousands men to march into machineguns in World War One. On the other hand self before all else is not very attractive either. It may be petty of me but I have little respect for All Blacks that leave mid-career to play club rugby in the Northern Hemisphere for cash, or people like Sonny Bill.
This is not a post about what the NZRFU should do about rugby; it is a post about doing things for the magic and honour of it. If we don’t believe in anything but ourselves or do anything except for our remuneration what a cold and venal world we will pass on.
Awhile ago I read two books. One was called The Book of Fame. It was a novel about the Invincibles tour by Lloyd Jones. The other book was a history book about the same tour. This was back in the day when you had to take a steamship to the other side of the world and be prepared to be away from home for months and months on end. The All Blacks played all comers, winning every game except a very dubiously referred match against a certain Welsh club team. It was hard work that tour. They played all the time, even with injury, and the travelling was long and hard. Oh, and they got paid bugger all. If you like rugby you should give the Lloyd Jones book a go.
What struck me about the book and watching the game against Munster was how much the All Blacks are admired in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The last time I remember the All Blacks doing a proper tour there were a few morons in the British press who thought the All Blacks should stop doing the haka. If these critics had bothered to watch how the haka was received by the crowds in the provinces they would have known what a dumb idea this was. The crowds loved it – they listened in silence and gave a roar at the end. Just like when the kicker from either side lined up a kick at goal. Did you hear the crowd at the Munster game? Even when the All Blacks kicked they were silent, and then clapped. We used to do this. In New Zealand this also used to be considered good form.
A few months ago I was listening to the panel on National Radio and one of the panellists commented on seeing an old faded sign behind the counter in a rather old faded shop. The sign said: Service Before Self. The panellist said that he thought most people would think that this was quite a quaint idea nowadays. Of course the most extreme form of this idea was somewhat discredited by asking hundreds of thousands men to march into machineguns in World War One. On the other hand self before all else is not very attractive either. It may be petty of me but I have little respect for All Blacks that leave mid-career to play club rugby in the Northern Hemisphere for cash, or people like Sonny Bill.
This is not a post about what the NZRFU should do about rugby; it is a post about doing things for the magic and honour of it. If we don’t believe in anything but ourselves or do anything except for our remuneration what a cold and venal world we will pass on.
7 comments:
Great sentiment. Hopefully community will win over venality. Maybe hard times are a blessing if it reminds people about what is really important.
"This is not a post about what the NZRFU should do about rugby; it is a post about doing things for the magic and honour of it. If we don’t believe in anything but ourselves or do anything except for our remuneration what a cold and venal world we will pass on."
I with you on this one!
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(the bit I missed out)
Good morning.
Made any errors yet today, man of?
Yep.
"Service Before Self. The panellist said that he thought most people would think that this was quite a quaint idea nowadays. Of course the most extreme form of this idea was somewhat discredited by asking hundreds of thousands men to march into machineguns in World War One."
Good read! May I comment that no soldier goes to war for motives other than those that are either forced on him or self enhancing in some way.
Wino post this weekend?
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