Brian Moore

Depp

This may seem a bit bitchy, but does anyone else think that brian moore is the worst commentator in the world, all he does is complain and i find it a pain to listen to him, any one else agree?

Digifriendly

Don't always agree with him but to be fair he calls it exactly as he sees it and I like his no nonsense approach.

Aidric

He is beyond partisan.

CatFromHue

i always fely he is a rugby fan first if a team/game is ****, including england/an england game, he says so.

he did play when i was small but before i was interested in rugby (dont tell anyone but soccer was my first love)

Podge_irl

I actually think he's one of the best. He is very good at explaining some of the technical details at scrum and ruck time. He's clearly pro-England, but not to the point of bigging them up in his commentary - in fact he's often more critical of them than anyone else. He's worlds better than Ryle Nugent.

thomond2006

He is the best analyst out there. He is really knowledgeable (especially with scrums) and calls it as he sees it.

Probably the only person who can spot crooked scrum feeds.

Conor O'Shea in that role is good also. Mostly because Hooky and Popey aren't there to spoil the party and keep him quiet.

Risteard

I like him. He adds a bit of colour to the commentary.

toomevara

Say what you will about Brian Moore but he is responsible for one of the best pieces of rugby related journalism I've ever read. The piece relates to the tragic suicide of Daniel James and was printed in the Telegraph on the 23rd Oct 2008.

This is a feeling nobody, however rich, can buy. As a former international hooker, I know that it also brings other things – equally moving, of greater import and sometimes inspirational, but never a pleasure.

I vividly recall my first visit to a rugby player who was in one of the country’s acute centres having suffered serious spinal injury. As I write I can feel the tears welling and as then, I cannot stop them.

I was not prepared for the experience, not understanding what might be my reaction. More importantly, what it needed to be to help the unfortunate boy who, either side of a collapsed scrum, had looked forward to his degree course at university, but now contemplated a lifetime of manual evacuation of his bowels, assisted feeding and knowing he would never be independent.
Though rugby is not the most dangerous of sports, there are serious injuries, and those pertaining to the front row, particularly to hookers, resonate keenly. The uniquely vulnerable world of the hooker within the scrum is one in which I dwelt for years without serious injury.

However, I also remember the times I got the engagement, the 'hit’, wrong, suffering a 'stinger’, a neurological shock like a lightning bolt down my spine: when I was driven upwards, my neck being slowly bent, close to hyperextension, before I managed to pop my head out of the scrum: when the front rows collapsed and all I could do was turn my head a little to minimise the chance of my neck taking all the weight of the collapse and fracturing.

Daniel James, son of Julie and Mark, represented England at under-16, university and student level at hooker. In playing for the last two teams he was following the same path which years earlier had led me to that which also cannot be bought; the honour of representing my country at full international level.

I know how Daniel felt pulling on the No 2 jersey; the mixture of fierce determination and pride, edged with fear and the pressure of carrying not only his dreams, but those of his friends and especially his parents. I know Julie and Mark were so very proud.

I am sure that in a quiet moment before he played, he thought of his mother and father. How much he owed them for driving him to training, coping with his mood swings according to how he had played – and just how much he loved them. I hope he told them at the time, because too few of us do.
Unfortunately, I know exactly how, in March last year, Daniel dislocated his spine when a scrum collapsed during a training session at Nuneaton RFC.
Colleague Mick Cleary, in his earlier column, chose precisely the phrase which is more apposite to me than most, given the similarities with Daniel.
“There but for...”

I cannot dwell on that collapse as it reminds me too much of my mortality and that someone else was chosen by fate to suffer. I cannot know the workings of Daniel’s mind as he struggled with his catastrophic injury and, if I am honest, I do not want to because in those thoughts lies madness.
I can make an educated guess at how his mum and dad felt when they were told of his accident and with what they battled thereafter. If the following sounds patronising, so be it; only a parent can come remotely near understanding what it must have been like for Julie and Mark.

If you have not had a child, your perception of this is intellectual. That is what makes parenthood special, it is emotional. You may hypothesise that Julie and Mark would gladly have swapped places with their son; but you cannot feel that or the guilt they probably feel for encouraging him to play the game that, at times, they will feel killed their son.

All this is secondary to the astonishing courage they showed in accompanying Daniel to the Dignitas clinic in Berne, where Daniel was assisted to take a life which to him had become unbearable, particularly given the contradiction of rude health and near total incapacity.
I do not know how they faced the conflicting emotions of saying goodbye to the little boy they saw score his first try and the desperate wish to keep him with them. If they get counselling, which they must, they may have to face admitting something I felt while watching my father struggle through the last hours of his life, gasping for breath – that when I cried “please don’t struggle anymore”, part of this was because I selfishly wanted him to spare me any more pain.

My father was elderly, but still the walk from his deathbed was a searing experience. No parent should have to bury a child and I do not have the ability to suppose what that walk felt like for Julie and Mark.
It is still an offence under the Suicide Act 1961 to “aid, counsel or procure the suicide of another”; the penalty is up to 14 years’ imprisonment. Julie and Mark now face the ordeal of investigation by the West Mercia police following notification of their act of love by a 'concerned’ individual.
Of that person I say concerned is the last thing you were, other than in an intellectual exercise of morality, a concept incapable of standard definition by two people, never mind entire organised groups – however concerned they, in their delusion, may be.

Among the many letters Julie and Mark will get, there will be a handful which will say they will be punished on the final day. Yes, some people are that pitiful. To such authors I put this – if you reserve judgment for God, why usurp this by presupposing the conclusion?

If there is a God I believe He will understand what was done and why.
Headlines have stated that Julie and Mark have defended their actions. Mr and Mrs James, you have to do no such thing. If there is a final reckoning, it is between you and your God – no one else.

Risteard

I remember reading it when it first came out. Very emotional stuff, eyes welling up just reading it again.

thomond2006

toomevara wrote: »

Say what you will about Brian Moore but he is responsible for one of the best pieces of rugby related journalism I've ever read. The piece relates to the tragic suicide of Daniel James and was printed in the Telegraph on the 23rd Oct 2008.

Amazing piece.

theboss80

ya i enjoy him aswell, my usual routine is listen 2 the prematch, halftime and full time conversations on RTE 2 and when the match is on i flick over to hear the BBC 1/2 game commentary. Anybody with me on that?

thomond2006

theboss80 wrote: »

ya i enjoy him aswell, my usual routine is listen 2 the prematch, halftime and full time conversations on RTE 2 and when the match is on i flick over to hear the BBC 1/2 game commentary. Anybody with me on that?

Yup.

All the time.

Depp

i suppose that the public has spoken, ill accept that

PhatPiggins

I find Jonathan Davies an awful commentator in both codes. Really parochial for union and just dull for league.

dreamer_ire

toomevara wrote: »

Say what you will about Brian Moore but he is responsible for one of the best pieces of rugby related journalism I've ever read. The piece relates to the tragic suicide of Daniel James and was printed in the Telegraph on the 23rd Oct 2008.

Astounding piece of writing... completely got me. Thanks Toom

thebaz

is he worse than Fred Cogley - i used to hate him when he played for England - such is sport - the best hooker england have had

Podge_irl

PhatPiggins wrote: »

I find Jonathan Davies an awful commentator in both codes. Really parochial for union and just dull for league.

NUMBERS!!!

Stev_o

Eh Mark Robson is the single worst commentator to have ever been paid to speak.

Notably mentions to Tony Ward, Killiane Keane and Ryle.

Hippo

thomond2006 wrote: »

Yup.

All the time.

And me!

Hippo

Stev_o wrote: »

Eh Mark Robson is the single worst commentator to have ever been paid to speak.

Notably mentions to Tony Ward, Killiane Keane and Ryle.

Fred Cogley, every time. Simply beyond belief for nearly 40 years.

Depp

my problem is how he is so opinionated and hes fairly negative at times

Podge_irl

Depp wrote: »

my problem is how he is so opinionated and hes fairly negative at times

On the first point, I would wager he knows more about rugby than a single person on this forum yet that doesn't stop people here from being opinionated. He's entitled to his opinions. Someone merely describing precisely what is happening would be rather boring and superfluous.

He's negative at times because he's nearly always commentating on England and they've been pretty ****e for most of the last 6 years. He gets frustrated. Its a lot better than Wood and Nichol's complete inability to see anything wrong with Ireland/Scotland as an example.

thomond2006

Stev_o wrote: »

Eh Mark Robson is the single worst commentator to have ever been paid to speak.

Oh Christ, don't even start...

wixfjord

Depp wrote: »

my problem is how he is so opinionated and hes fairly negative at times

Your problem with a rugby analyst is that he is opinionated

thomond2006

Depp wrote: »

my problem is how he is so opinionated and hes fairly negative at times

You want analysts to be opinionated.

Taking an example from another sport, if you watched Sky Sports football coverage, they always sit on the fence, they never criticise and they never say anything that the average fan doesn't already know. They're also never negative because SS are trying to promote a product that has a good/positive image.

If analysts aren't opinionated, they have no purpose imho.

You argue that Brian Moore is negative, I argue that he is correct.

I watch BBC to hear what that man says.

handsomecake

Aidric wrote: »

He is beyond partisan.

he is so far up englands hole its ****ing untrue.he commentates on board the sweet chariot.


good article though.well written ill give him that

Chucky the tree

handsomecake wrote: »

he is so far up englands hole its ****ing untrue.he commentates on board the sweet chariot.


good article though.well written ill give him that

Clearly you haven't watched an england game in a long long time when Moore has been commentating.

handsomecake

Chucky the tree wrote: »

Clearly you haven't watched an england game in a long long time when Moore has been commentating.

not since the 6 nations anyway chief. sky sports have the rights to the autumn tests most of the time.so i suppose your right. it would have been april-ish

Stev_o

Whens the last time Moore has said anything good about England

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTQWT-B0EBw

Podge_irl

handsomecake wrote: »

he is so far up englands hole its ****ing untrue.he commentates on board the sweet chariot.

As pointed out to you, Moore only stops criticising England to either breathe or complain about crooked scrum feeds.

handsomecake

Podge_irl wrote: »

As pointed out to you, Moore only stops criticising England to either breathe or complain about crooked scrum feeds.

i disagree.

thomond2006

handsomecake wrote: »

i disagree.

How can you say he is "up england's hole".

He goes out of his way to be impartial towards them.

Podge_irl

Stev_o wrote: »

Whens the last time Moore has said anything good about England

Does Moore's mic get cut there just as he's about to say something less than admirable about England?

thomond2006

Podge_irl wrote: »

Does Moore's mic get cut there just as he's about to say something less than admirable about England?

Yes.

pappyodaniel

He's not great, the amount of times he complains about some offence or the referee's decision making, but then after watching the replay gets proved completely wrong. To be fair though he always puts his hand up and admits his error. He's had some cringeworthy arguments over the years with Eddie Butler (who i find to be the best RU commentator at the mo).

Whoever mentioned Mark Robson is spot on. He is possibly the most annoying commentator ever, and that includes Fred Cogley, Jim Sherwin and Ryle Nugent. I vividly remember this Mark Robson quote about David Humphreys; "The Field Marshall Motgomery of Ulster Rugby does it again with another kick...." - What a douche-nozzle

Aidric

Haha, there truly isn't enough abuse that can be directed at Mark Robson. It pisses me off no end that sky continue to retain him. You just know that the guy fancies himself as well, which is just tragic for all concerned.

Luckycharm

He is not the worst he actually loses it sometimes with England which is great. He actually posts on the Planet Rugby forum.

anonymous_joe

Luckycharm wrote: »

He is not the worst he actually loses it sometimes with England which is great. He actually posts on the Planet Rugby forum.

Heh, that alone makes him a hero.

bamboozle

Aidric wrote: »

Haha, there truly isn't enough abuse that can be directed at Mark Robson. It pisses me off no end that sky continue to retain him. You just know that the guy fancies himself as well, which is just tragic for all concerned.

sky rugby commentary is tash, BBC and RTE had us spoilt for years, everytime i'm forced to watch a match on Sky Sports a little part of me dies. i'm not sure what annoys me more the ridiculous on screen technical analysis of stuart barnes or the fact that every season sky sports create & hype up a new rugby super star...who never ever lives up to it

SuprSi

dreamer_ire wrote: »

Astounding piece of writing... completely got me. Thanks Toom

Agree - heartwrenching story, thanks for posting.

OldJay

bamboozle wrote: »

sky rugby commentary is tash, BBC and RTE had us spoilt for years, everytime i'm forced to watch a match on Sky Sports a little part of me dies. i'm not sure what annoys me more the ridiculous on screen technical analysis of stuart barnes or the fact that every season sky sports create & hype up a new rugby super star...who never ever lives up to it

Best commentators are the two South Africans from SA's coverage of games there.
Best analyst is Austin Healey on BBC. Actually I think he has been outstanding since joining the BBC coverage. Reads the game very very well. Called the Wales v Ireland game to pinpoint accuracy, for example.

OldJay

Aidric wrote: »

Haha, there truly isn't enough abuse that can be directed at Mark Robson. It pisses me off no end that sky continue to retain him

His obssession with player's weight and height does my nut in (and Matt Banahan!). Along with Miles Harrison and that wally on Sky who does the interviews, I'm switching off as soon as game is finished. The RTE panel has two good pundits. Pope and O'Shea.
Thats about it. Not much choice. Just enjoy the games.

chupacabra

Justind wrote: »

Best commentators are the two South Africans from SA's coverage of games there.

Yes i love Hugh Bladen. He is the Jimmy Magee if South African rugby, such a great voice.

Aidric

Justind wrote: »

Along with Miles Harrison and that wally on Sky who does the interviews, I'm switching off as soon as game is finished. The RTE panel has two good pundits. Pope and O'Shea.
Thats about it. Not much choice. Just enjoy the games.

I don't mind Harrison but Simmon's interviews usually descend into cringe. Agreed on Pope & O Shea.

Stev_o

I hate Bladen because he is so damn predictable

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyPPnh4IXsU

d'Oracle

I don't think he is bad.
He is fun.

He commentates for an British station, he is English and usually gets asked to call England games. When England are good he larks their praise.
When England are bad, He is an absolute bastard to them.

I like that about him.

irishbucsfan

The most annoying thing about modern rugby commentary is the constant criticism of the kicking games that teams are employing these days. If I hear the term Aerial Ping-pong again I'm going to mute my TV and throw away the remote.

FishFood

I think rugby needs a Jame Redknapp for halftime commentary, get him in there with popey and hook so he can enlighten us with knowledgeable comments such as:

'He's a top, top player, that was a top try he's scored there'

or

'If Ireland score more points then France then they have a chance of winning this game but France are a top team and so are Ireland'

And he's off to find a tighter suit!

poncho000

Will Chignell is a good commentator, quite colourful and unbiased, have a look at this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzW5KlXF5d8

Aidric

Paul Kimmage conducted an interesting interview with Moore in yesterdays Times, revealing the demons that have effected him.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/columnists/paul_kimmage/article6982239.ece

The puzzle of Brian Moore

England’s finest hooker took years to tackle his toughest opponent - the one inside his head called Gollum

Gollum: We wants it, we needs it. Must have the precious. They stole it from us. Sneaky little Hobbitses. Wicked, tricksy, falssse.
Smeagol: No. No master!
Gollum: Yes, precious, false! They will cheat you, hurt you, LIE.
Smeagol: Master is my friend.
Gollum: You don’t have any friends; nobody likes you!
Smeagol: I’m not listening ... I’m not listening.
Gollum: You’re a liar and a thief.
Smeagol: No!
Gollum: Mur-der-er.
Smeagol: Go away.
Gollum: Go away?
Smeagol: I hate you, I hate you.
- Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
If you’ve watched Brian Moore play rugby, or listened to his commentaries on TV or read his newspaper columns, it’s the passion and obduracy that marks. This was a sporting icon, the Pitbull of England’s scrum, and it paid to beware of the dog. This is a classic Yorkshireman, immortalised by Harry Enfield, who says what he likes and likes what he bloody well says. So it comes as something of a shock to find him so shaken and vulnerable.
We meet on a Tuesday morning at his Wimbledon home. Three days have passed since the revelations that he was sexually abused as a boy made headlines and he hasn’t quite come to terms with it. His mind is racing and skipping on every thought; his arms itch with clumps of weeping psoriasis; his sinuses are clogged and there’s gravel in his throat. He sits at the kitchen table, aching for a Marlboro Light, sifting through the pieces of a large jigsaw puzzle. It seems a perfect metaphor for his life.
“Is that a passion?” I ask.
“No, someone gave it to me and over the last few days I’ve just ... I don’t know. It’s been odd and quite difficult really. I’m still a bit numb about the whole thing. I knew the serialisation was going to be in the paper but when it was on the front page it made me feel sick actually. I thought, ‘Oh God! Have I done the right thing?’ I didn’t read any of it for a few hours and my wife said, ‘Look, it’s not as bad as you think it is’. And so I had to make myself do it and once I had done it, it was out of the way.”
Except that it’s not out of the way. He has spent three days surfing the web, fixated by readers’ comments. Most have been hugely complimentary but when your name is Brian Moore and you’ve spent a lifetime wrestling with the scars of adoption, it’s the negatives (“He’s too small to be a hooker”) that haunt you. “I had expected there to be some cynicism about motives and what have you and I was prepared for that but for people to accuse me of making it up! For people to say it’s there to sell a book!” He exhales and shakes his head.
“My wife warned me about it,” he continues. “She said, ‘I thought we agreed you could only read those if you weighed one against the other, the positives against the negative, but you’ve done it again, haven’t you? You’re only thinking about the negative.’ I said, ‘Yeah, but that’s just the way I am’. She said, ‘I know that’s the way you are but that’s what we’re trying to stop, isn’t it? Why is the negative worth more than the positive? Why is that?’ But I don’t know. I’ve never been able to answer that.”
It’s the questions he cannot answer and those lingering scars from his childhood that make his new autobiography, Beware Of The Dog: Rugby’s Hard Man Reveals All, such a fascinating read.
The month is November 2003. He’s sitting in a house in Parsons Green watching the World Cup final with friends. Jonny Wilkinson has dropped a last-minute winner. He jumps off the couch and celebrates wildly until the presentation of the medals and then something inside him snaps as the ribbon is draped on Jason Leonard. He is sobbing uncontrollably. His friends ask: “What’s wrong, Brian?” But he lies and fobs them off.
He’s thinking about the 1991 final and the loss to Australia; his shot at immortality; the one that got away. Jason was with him that day. They were the best England side of all time ... but not any more. He is jealous. He wishes he was Jason Leonard and could put 1991 behind him. But he’s not. And he can’t. And it’s still chipping away at him ...
“You’re a fake, a failure, a fraud.”
What’s wrong with him? Why can’t he let it go? The month is December 2001. His wife, Lucy, has gone into labour. They are sitting in a cab en route to University College Hospital in Fitzrovia at 3am on a Sunday. Lucy is writhing with pain. “How are you doing?” the driver inquires.
“I’m a bit nervous, actually,” Moore replies.
“I’m not talking to you,” the driver laughs.
But it’s not funny. What’s wrong with him? When did he become so self-absorbed? Why is it always about him?
The month is September 2004. His marriage to Lucy has started to unravel. He is walking through Covent Garden and is struck by a wave of contempt for a street performer, a juggler. He’s thinking, ‘That guy is pathetic. Why is he bothering? And what about all those saps standing there looking at him!’ But when he reflects on it later he can’t make sense of it. What harm was the guy doing? Why did it make him so belligerent? Where does that come from? Why has it always been there? What’s wrong with him?
HE REACHES for a cigarette, steps onto the patio and decides to introduce me to the devil in his head, a devil that has haunted him since childhood; a devil he calls Gollum.
“Are you a Tolkien fan?” he asks.
“I’ve seen the films,” I reply.
“You probably won’t remember this but there’s a scene from The Two Towers — I’ll play it for you later — that will help you understand. I remember watching it for the first time and thinking, ‘That’s it. I’ve suddenly got an avatar for this thing that goes on [in my head] which makes sense to me.”
“This is Gollum?”
“Yes, Gollum, he is hovering around here now and if I was to take you through the conversations going on in the background you would ... I hesitate to do this because it makes me sound f***ing mad.”
“What’s he saying?” I ask.
He stares transfixed at the table. The tone of his voice has changed. Gollum spits his words and is pitiless . . . “Why are you saying all this to another newspaperman?”
“What do you mean?”
“He must think you’re a f***wit.”
“No.”
“How naive is that? How stupid are you?”
“We’re talking about the book. He’s a fellow journalist.”
“A journalist! What sort of journalist are you?”
“Oh, not that again, Gollum.”
“And look at him! He only looks vaguely interested because that’s his job.”
“Not true.”
“You’d be exactly the same if you were interviewing the journalist.”
“What?”
“You’d be good at that ... false empathy! False sincerity! Fake!”
“Not true.”
“Just wait until he leaves and tells all his mates what he really thinks.”
“I trust him.”
“That nutcase Brian Moore . . .”
“No.”
“... What a sad bastard he is!”
The spell is broken. Gollum has retreated. He registers the look of astonishment on my face and smiles nervously: “I told you ... insane.”
He was 13 years old and walking home after the final of a schools cricket tournament when he met Gollum first. He had just scored 37 runs and had a plumb lbw shout turned down against the boy who hit the winning run but this devil in his head didn’t do commiseration. “Loser. Loser. Who cared if you top-scored? You couldn’t bowl the real batsman out, could you? He hit the winning run — that was your fault. Pathetic. Loser. Loser.” So he walked out of the ground and hurled his runner’s-up trophy over a wall.
It was not rational behaviour but who should he confide in? His natural father, Brian Kirk, and mother, Rina, had long ago abandoned him. His adoptive parents, Ralph and Dorothy Moore, were Methodist lay preachers with no interest in sport. Three years before, a teacher had sexually abused him. So he locked Gollum away with his other dark secret. And for the next 33 years that’s mostly how it was.
He did not write about it in his first autobiography, published in 1995. He never mentioned it to Penny or to Lucy, or to Belinda when he married for the third time. Why should he? He was Brian Moore the legendary player and successful lawyer. He called the games on BBC; he appeared on Question Time; he was nominated for Sports Writer of the Year; he was the man with all the answers. But two questions kept gnawing away at him: “Why am I so angry? What is the source of this innate belligerence?”
The path to redemption started in 2008 with an invitation from the yachtswoman Tracy Edwards to join a fund-raising initiative for the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre in London. A visit was arranged to explain how they worked; Moore left the building, reflected on what had happened to him as a boy and was distraught.
A few hours later, he decided to seek help.
“I don’t think I’m a weak-willed person,” he says. “I’m not dull, I’m not stupid and I found it difficult to admit that I needed help, that I couldn’t work this out for myself, but I got to the stage where the alternative was to be miserable. It affects relationships. I thought, ‘This is no way to live’. And then you finally ask for help and you tell it for the first time and cry without feeling embarrassed. Then Gollum jumped in . . .”
“How pathetic is this!”
“What?”
“A grown man crying!”
“Not now, Gollum.”
“And you know what? It wasn’t even that bad, was it? Certainly not as bad as some of the things you’ve seen, so why don’t you stop whingeing?”
“I’m not listening.”
“How deceitful can you be? You have got to the stage where you can make yourself cry for sympathy. How pathetic is that? How disgustingly awful is that when there are real victims.”
Later, at a different session, he introduced the counsellor to Gollum and recreated a conversation they were having that went back and forth and tit-for-tat for 20 minutes. He’s still around. There is no magic wand to make him go away.
“I thought originally there would be a solution,” he explains, “and that I could work with somebody who would say, ‘It’s that’. The painful part is realising that’s not going to happen. You are not going to get a, ‘Now this is what you’ve been missing, Brian’. There is no cure at all. It is not like solving an equation.
“Part of the reason I have been so manically driven is Gollum putting me down all the time. The belligerence is a response to that, ‘I am worth something. I’m going to prove to you that I’m worth something and I’m not going to stop until I do’. But where has that come from? Why has that been there? It didn’t come from my parents.”
“Is it genetic?” I ask.
“I think genetically you may be disposed to being competitive and having a bit more aggression but being competitive is not the same as being driven. Whenever I hear people say, ‘I’m driven’ or ‘He’s driven’ or ‘She’s driven’ I always want to ask ‘Why are you driven? What drives you?’ The problem with driven people is that they are never happy ultimately.
“I was driven, but I’m not happy when I look back on my career because my mind is drawn to the failures and not the successes. I see the same with Jonny Wilkinson. He fascinates me. He did this interview about becoming a Buddhist and said that he had read everything about Buddhism. I thought, ‘Well, that’s the point, Jonny, isn’t it? It’s the same obsession. Don’t you understand that you now want to be the most relaxed person in the world?’ It just doesn’t work.
“I’m dying for the day when he says, ‘Oh b***ocks! I can’t be bothered. I’m going to buy a burger and rebel’. But it’s not going to happen. He’s going to look back on his career and say, ‘I’m a World Cup-winner but I didn’t do that and that and that’. I’d like to call him and say, ‘No, no, Jonny, stop’. I’d like to spare him a lot of pain. He will end up like me.”
But what will that be? I remind him of the dedication in his book — “To Imogen and Larissa [his daughters] for making me feel complete” — and the optimism it conveys.
Has he answered the questions? Has he figured it out? Wasn’t there a time, not so long ago, when he abandoned law and flirted with politics and opened a nail salon and confessed to being permanently dissatisfied?
“Yeah, but when you look at all those, what does it say to you?” he asks. “It says, ‘You haven’t a clue where you’re going, do you? You don’t really know’. And I didn’t. I used to have the grass-is-greener syndrome and was always looking over the fence and thinking, ‘That looks interesting’, when the question I should have been asking was, ‘What would make you happy? How do you find that?’
“This sounds so sad but I just want to be normal, I just want to be happy — not in a silly, gaiety sense but just to be generally content. It’s a very simple aim actually but for me it seems to be extraordinarily difficult. Am I anywhere near? Well, all I can say is this: I occasionally touch it and can keep it for longer without intruding and trying to sabotage it.”
Gollum is back on his shoulder ...
“Being normal? What sort of aim is that?”
“It would be enough, Gollum.”
“Big aim, isn’t it? Really set your sights high, haven’t you?”
... and then he’s gone.
Moore flicks at a piece from the puzzle absent-mindedly and wonders if it will fit. “Yeah, being content would be enough,” he continues. “But to feel that, not just think it, which is a big difference for me.”
“It fit,” I observe.
“What?” he replies, confused.
“That piece you placed in the jigsaw ... it fit.”
“So it did,” he laughs.
His joy lights up the room.
• Beware of the Dog: Rugby’s Hard Man Reveals All, by Brian Moore is published by Simon & Schuster (£17.99)

shawpower

Two things.

Firstly, Wow. That is a fantastic piece of journalism. And Moore is so open about what is going on for him.

Secondly, in the time it took me to read that, with one step away from the screen, my session timed out and I had to log in again. Anyone know how to extend the time it takes for your session to drop out? Maybe PM me if you do so this isn't kept off topic.