Has the ethos of rugby been lost in the professional era?

boksmashoffice

I started a thread on the Bok and Irish not getting along. Reading peoples comments paused another question. Hence the title of this blog.

I was sad and disappointed to read players and coachs of the Boks and Lions did not mix after matchs and at functions. Again in the old days guys had a beers after the match and had a mutual respect. Nowadays does that happen? I would say not as much.

I would even go as far to say guys are willing to CHEAT to win. Rugby is becoming more like soccer with guys trying to con the ref. This I believe is not acceptable.

What are other peoples views on this?

Fishooks12

I think rugby is still a sport built on the principals of mutual respect and fair play. It's in stark contrast to soccer and bar a major shift in the culture of the game will be for sometime

One thing I don't like that has crept into the game lately is the amount of sledging though

boksmashoffice

Fishooks12 wrote: »

I think rugby is still a sport built on the principals of mutual respect and fair play. It's in stark contrast to soccer and bar a major shift in the culture of the game will be for sometime

One thing I don't like that has crept into the game lately is the amount of sledging though

I think there has always been sledging in Rugby, However it is getting too personnal, That gets me. If a person has any class or dignity, they should not cross certain lines. Guys want to get the edge over someone so bad, they will be willing to stoop so low. IMO.

Tox56

I think we're still miles ahead of soccer in this respect, could you imagine them putting a live ref mic on a soccer referee? Not a hope.

Other things like the clapping the opposition off the pitch are good traditions to have.

I also agree with above, there is definitely a mutual respect between the players.

GerM

With any sport or organisation, introduce money and the stakes get higher. Players will take further steps to win and that includes simulating injury. Faure going down like he was shot by a sniper when Cullen gave him a pop in the face in the HEC is a recent example. However, all in all, I think the move to professionalism hasn’t seen the demise of rugby culture entirely that many predicted. Of course it has diminished which was always going to happen but I believe there is still huge respect between players for the most part. There is bad blood between some teams but that has been the case always. There was bad blood between sides back in the seventies, at the advent of professionalism and today.

Sledging is something that has existed for years. It’s not a recent phenomenon. As long as there have been mouthy little scrum halves, there has been sledging.

Otacon

boksmashoffice wrote: »

I would even go as far to say guys are willing to CHEAT to win. Rugby is becoming more like soccer with guys trying to con the ref. This I believe is not acceptable.

Are you talking about the good type of cheating [dark arts at scrumtime, rucking 'illegalities'] or the bad type of cheating [Bloodgate, faking injuries]?

Fishooks12

In relation to Germs post, I'm aware sledging has always existed but it seems to be much more prevalent in the last few years. Not singling a team out but the Ospreys went way over board with it in the Rabo final

justsomebloke

Truthfully this was always going to be the downside of professionalism as it turned a hobby into a job. There is a now a lot more riding on games with a big increase in pressure on players to preform well. This stress can easily lead to players taking things that happen on a pitch a lot more personally which of course then can be carried off the pitch.

Couple this with the more stringent life styles associated with being a modern rugby player, with players flying home immediately after games, having to watch what they eat and drink and it quite easy to see how the old ethos can at times fall by the way side.

In relation to cheating, I think it would be extremely naive to believe that this is new. Yes there is probably an increase in it due to the money that can be associated with winning but I think alot of the perceived increase is actually just down to the increased amount of media coverage given to the game. Better technology now means it is easier to disect what is actually happening on the pitch and actually see fouls that previously would of gone unnoticed. Players have always played the ref it's just now we can see when they do it

errlloyd

Importantly the Ethos of professional rugby may have changed, but I still think the Ethos of Amateur rugby is alive and well.

CatFromHue

Honestly I don't think there's been too much of a change but I'd say there has been one all the same. The players can't go on benders like they used to which kind of limits there ability to "bond" with the opposition.

They still go out I'd imagine. Heaslip asking one of the French lads were they going out later after the French frozen pitch game is an example. I do remember being in the Trinity Rooms in Limerick after Munster beat Sale in 2005/06 and both teams were there that night, granted it was a while ago now.

We do tend to look back with rose tinted glasses but if you ever look at any old footage of games the amount of punches thrown was unreal. There was no diving (Andy Hadden excepted) but hands in the ruck etc. defo went on. Also not all teams got on. Pontypridd and Brive can attest to that :pac: http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/rugby-union-pontypridd-face-expulsion-after-barroom-brawl-1239525.html

bossa_nova

Hasnt change that much at all really i would say, sure after the France vs Ireland game got called off Heaslip and Harinordoquy had a achat and where talking about beers afterwards

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMsFxVImvY4

around 17 minute mark

[Jackass]

It hasn't been lost at all and also the chatter has been long part of the game, both on and off the pitch. Some riavlries of note would be down in Munster, where the "Leinster / Munster BS" that is called by the mods today pales in comparrison to what you would get at a Garryowen vs Shannon match, which is brilliant imo! And if anything, it's died down since professionalism, but in the amature age those games were as big as internationals! (and I only pick this fixture as it has traditionaly probably been the biggest and best rivalry in Irish club rugby over the years)

That's tribal warfare and everybody is in on it. The slagging, agressively so, that goes on is and has always been part of rugby, the only difference is that it never escolates from jeers and angry words to vilolence...ever. (at least not off the pitch )

Also looks at tours down through the years, the chat that comes out of each camp, going way back through the amature age too, there's always been an aggressive aspect to rugby, and a bit of sh*t talking and jeering. It's not a tea party, and I'm glad it isn't. People who cite this "new football fan" in rugby are mad, that has always existed.

Some people are too sensitive imo and are diluded with a sense of a gentlemans game being all about beg your pardons and excuse me sirs. I wouldn't want that, and the main thing about rugby is we have all the sh*t talk, we have all the slagging, we have all the fighting on the pitch, but what makes our sport unique is that the teams applaud each other off the pitch afterwards with the most sincere respect and the fans all go to the pub together and share a good laugh.

The ethos is alive and well, and better than ever.