It’s been a tough summer for rugby. In a matter of weeks we have gone from a sublime Lions series to the ridiculous and depressing scandals currently consuming the sport, with countless articles on drug-taking and eye-gouging, and double-page spreads lamenting the game's demise post-'Bloodgate'. ‘The fact is that rugby’s integrity is dead,’ wrote Simon Barnes in The Times a few days ago.
Well, I’m not so sure. In fact, I think that the outrage the affairs have caused has demonstrated the sport’s underlying integrity. People are so angry and disillusioned that you sense a return to the game’s sporting roots is not just possible, but actively desired by all. The fake blood incident at Harlequins was despicable, from the pre-meditated cheating to the attempted cover-up, with bribery and blackmail thrown into the sordid and farcical mix. It was so disappointing and ridiculous, in fact, that people awoke from their egg-chasing daydreams to ask, as Mark Souster did, ‘is this where the win-at-all-costs mentality of professionalism is taking us?’ If the ‘Bloodgate’ fiasco serves as an effective reminder of the path rugby would take without integrity, it is a scandal worth suffering.
Much of the criticism levelled at rugby in recent weeks has justifiably been focused on the sport’s hypocrisy, and it’s partly because the game has cultivated such a ‘holier-than-thou’ attitude that its critics are now being so venomous – pride comes before a fall, and they’re happy to remind us of it. ‘Rugby union, a game steeped in self-righteousness, has thrown away its moral compass,’ wrote Barnes.
In some ways it’s strange that rugby should have been so proud of itself – the game has seen violence and cheating of a sort for so long (certainly before professionalism, although not as seriously) that one might well ask where the basis for its moral superiority comes from. We constantly sneer at footballers for diving, but every week both amateur and professional rugby players spend eighty minutes trying to con the referee in the messy melee of rucks, mauls and scrums. Granted, there’s something really cringeworthy about grown men rolling on the floor in fake agony, but it’s the same 'gamesmanship' illness, just with different symptoms - you can't condemn one but not the other. If the ‘Bloodgate’ affair brings rugby fans down from their high horses a little, it would certainly be a good thing.
This said, there are some areas where rugby definitely still has it right. While the Harlequins affair rumbled on, the story broke that a man was stabbed in the widespread violence surrounding a West Ham vs Millwall match. The shedding of real blood lent the fake blood incident some perspective, and also perhaps helps to explain the moral high ground (in this case more legitimately) taken by rugby fans: one part of rugby’s underlying integrity has always been demonstrable in the friendly attitude of its fans to one another.
Where I think rugby has also done well is in its reaction to the Harlequins affair. A serious punishment was given to those involved, unlike in many other sports – I don’t think three years is too much for Richards, because if you want to stop corruption you have to be harsh when it occurs. A panel has also been set up - with big some big names included - to explore just how deeply the rot has set in, and will hopefully help to bring more cases to light.
The best reaction, however, has come from the fans. As we have seen, the disappointment is so great that any dubious behaviour will surely be roundly condemned if it takes place in the coming season, while diving has now become an apparently irremovable part of football. I’m sure the same feeling also extends to a large number of rugby players, for whom this sort of pre-meditated cheating was a frustrating and regrettable aspect of the game they love (some might still defend and enjoy the odd spot of 'gamesmanship', but it's a slippery slope). The most important thing is that the attitude is right at the individual level – changing the laws on substitutions or having greater surveillance of players may seem like the best way to ensure that this sort of incident doesn’t happen again, but far more desirable is a system where honesty and integrity are more important to both players and fans than short-term advantage or victory.
‘Bloodgate’ is a perfect demonstration of how far from the ideal rugby has drifted, and will hopefully see the game better itself as a result.
