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kije says...

Martin Samuels words hurt,but I think he has something there. The expensively educated and the middle classes are very good at making veneers and the differences between their greedy pursuits and those of the council estate boys are no different except for the face put on them and of course the elegance of their deceptions.

I love the game and believe that it's fundamental principles are far superior to most other team sports and one of those principles is honesty - let's ensure that, by pursuing the cheats and ridding the game of their presence in whichever hemisphere they exist.

Posted 10:40 05th September 2009

wazsere says...

in the amateur era it was entirely reasonable for a player to stay at one club for his career, his location being determined by his day-job and not what he did in his spare time. In a professional era its unrealistic not to expect players to move, and why all the fuss anyway, especially from cynical hacks (lets face it, how many journalists have stayed at one newspaper all their careers? how many people stay with one company all their working life? not many right ..). And maybe its time to look at the cause of bloodgate - before substitutes were permitted (not that long ago) players would play on regardless of their fitness, blood substitutes were introduced as a defense to AIDS, full substitutes were introduced because it became impossible to regulate blood substitutes - maybe now its time to allow full rotation of substitutes with players being allowed to return to the pitch even after they've been substituted as many other sports do. Dean Richards would still be working if that were the case. And finally, Rugby's past being of "gentlemanly conduct, clean tactics and of course, honesty" ... what a load of bull, the only thing Rugby was honest about was its on-field thuggery which involved hay-makers, 99's, punching, spitting, gauging, biting and all-round intimidation - its honesty came in that it was up front and open, never personal and it stopped once you crossed the line and headed to the bar. Rugby is far from perfect today, but then again - it never was! .

Posted 02:11 03rd September 2009

yank says...

Frankly the article is biased against (mainly) SA olayers and naive in the extreme. Surely written with tongue in cheek.......

DSDS'comments are well made particularly as it relates to France becoming the destination of choice rather than English clubs. The players are professional and entitled to their maximising their earnings. If the buyers didnt think they were worth it, they wouldnt be offerring more. And by the way, Habana was in fact "stolen" by the BBC from the Lions in the first place.

Posted 14:43 27th August 2009

ninkynonk says...

I'm sure Lawrence Dallaglio commented that Jonny Wilkinson should move away from Newcastle

Posted 13:03 27th August 2009

slave4freedom says...

Well said dsds. Rugby has for some time now been in a professional era, perhaps the players and teams are finally coming to terms with the facts about professionalism. In each and every one of our careers we strive to improve and face new challenges and yes increase our income and if we do not its because we live in a communist state.

Posted 07:04 27th August 2009

dsds says...

Oh come on. British clubs, in particular though not exclusively, have been using the relative weakness of the ZAR to lure South African players away from their home clubs and unions for as long as British rugby has been professional. And at international level England, again particularly though not exclusively, have shown themselves quite happy to exploit this situation to their benefit and South Africa's detriment. (Not just in rugby either: South African cricketers didn't exactly win the Ashes, but 'England' wouldn't have won them without them. Check the averages if you need to.) Now suddenly, after all your hard work to extinguish any idea of loyalty, it's become an issue? What's changed? Why didn't this apply when you were picking Catt and Abbott, and before Matt Stevens was relegated to the closet where the skeletons are hidden? (I'll tell you why - because France not England has become the destination of choice - for English players too.) If Habana had chosen England as a destination, this article would not have been written. And why, while we're on the subject, no mention of Darling Jonny, whose own loyalty has not been conspicuous?

Posted 13:52 26th August 2009

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