The death of running rugby

After the recent Rugby World Cup, former England international Matt Dawson called South Africa the ‘greatest‘ rugby team of all time. The Springboks lost to Ireland, only beat a depleted and battered Wales in the last few minutes, and then beat France, England and South Africa, all by a single point. The ‘greatest‘? They could have lost three games, perhaps four, instead of one. These games featured ugly, brutal rugby, characterised by massive collisions between heavy players, kick-aheads and endless injury stoppages, with South Africa bringing on a fresh pack of forwards in the second halves. Fewer and fewer youngsters are carrying on in adult rugby, as it has moved from a non-contact to a constant-contact game – suitable mainly for boxing fans and lovers of blood sports.

In amateur days, with no substitutes, there were very few stoppages and far, far more running rugby. Driving mauls would have been disallowed for offside and scrums operated with actual hookers. Wales and France had wonderful teams in the 1970s, with very few new caps, and their exciting games were full of tries scored by the backs. We need to return to understandable rules and perhaps place an average weight limit on teams, as Lord knows how many players are being brain-damaged in the present bash-fest. Cardiff Rugby Club always had one mantra – ‘get it to the wings‘. Of the 8 Williams brothers who played for Cardiff, the great Bleddyn, who captained Cardiff and Wales to inflict the only two defeats on the 1953 All Blacks’ tour, played 78 first-class club games in his final two seasons. With club and international trials, friendlies and charity matches he played over 100 matches (plus training, or course). Bleddyn was a centre, and his brothers Elwyn, a wing-forward, played 37 games a year for Cardiff for seven consecutive years and centre Tony played an average of 35 games in seven years, both overlapping with such greats as Gareth Edwards, Barry John and Gerald Davies at the Cardiff club. The 8 Williams brothers played over 1,400 games for what was then acknowledged as the ‘greatest rugby club in the world‘, with the hardest fixture list, despite the War and National Service limiting the careers of the eldest six. There is no way in modern rugby that they could have achieved such a record.

Terry Breverton

Author – The Greatest Sporting Family in History – the Blue and Black Brothers

30 Chandlers Way

Penarth

CF64 1SPP

07379228619

breverton@hotmail.co.uk