Discipline and control

This week we talk discipline, control and mutual respect – or rather a lack thereof…

Welcome to Loose Pass – our weekly assortment of disjointed thoughts. This week we will be mostly concerning ourselves with discipline, control and mutual respect – or rather a lack thereof…

Is there such a thing as a mid-year resolution? Well, here's a proposal anyway: let's all play this thug's game like the gentlemen of old.

It's no secret that us egg-chasers enjoy looking down on our estranged soccer-playing cousins, but recent events have made the likes of Ashley Cole look downright saintly in comparison to some of rugby's more revered exponents.

We've had ketchup-soaked cheating, the re-emergence of eye-gouging, pub brawls, drug abuse and open dissent of the laws that govern the game – and all within the last couple of months.

What has soccer managed in the same period? Two upper-cuts from Steven Gerrard, reluctantly delivered in shocked self-defence, we hasten to add (for your sake, dear lawyer).

And rugby's new hooliganism isn't confined to those who do battle on the pitch – the blazers were at it during last week's Rugby World Cup vote in Dublin.

South Africa and Italy made much noise and pointed accusing fingers at the IRB after England landed the right to host the event in 2015.

The two unsuccessful bidders claim, somewhat justifiably, that the governing body had relaxed its original criteria to accommodate the RFU's proposal … and its promise of mountains of wonga.

The aforementioned accusations also involve the Welsh who might have handed England their votes in exchange for a slice of the action, namely “two quarter-finals and a minimum of five pool stage matches”, according to the Welsh Rugby Union.

France are thought to have had the same sort of deal with the Italian bid and might have exchanged their votes for the promise of a World Cup outpost in Marseille.

And the Irish vote might have gone South Africa's way for the same sort of reasons. It just so happens that the Springboks will form one half of the entertainment at the grand open of New Lansdowne Road. (Sorry, but it can't be the 'Aviva Stadium' – it just can't!)

The Scots, meanwhile, are also thought to have voted against their nearest neighbour despite the economic benefits a World Cup in England might have north of the border – but that's probably down to unshakable historical hang-ups rather than anything too untoward.

Cheating, drugs, dissent, eye-gouging, back-stabbing, money-grabbing – how did we sink so low?

People, let us not forget what makes rugby the greatest game on earth!

Let us remind ourselves of the words of rugby's Playing Charter. Then let us make copies and impale them on every peg in every changing room in every club in every country across our oval world.

It is through discipline, control and mutual respect that the spirit of the game flourishes and, in the context of a game as physically challenging as rugby, these are the qualities which forge the fellowship and sense of fair play so essential to the game's ongoing success and survival.

Old fashioned traditions and virtues they may be, but they have stood the test of time and, at all levels at which the game is played, they remain as important to rugby's future as they have been throughout its long and distinguished past. The principles of rugby are the fundamental elements upon which the game is based and they enable participants to immediately identify the game's character and what makes it distinctive as a sport.

Here endth the lesson. Thanks be to rugby.

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Actually, let's not ring the bell on that lesson just yet…

Last week we expressed hopes that Harlequins would appeal the 12-month ban meted out to Tom Williams for “fabricating a wound or blood injury”.

We expected the club to appeal because the length of the suspension all but cried out for someone in a position of authority to throw up their hands, admit the club's collective guilt and spare the kid his career.

The ERC disciplinary committee gave the club 72 hours to lodge such an appeal – that deadline came and past without a peep out of the Stoop.

Quins have stated they will “consider their position in the light of the written judgement” due to be handed down by the disciplinary committee in the next few days, and we dearly hope that they do just that.

The ancient club's reputation has been severely tainted by this episode, but it can make immediate amends by doing the right thing.

Forget Bath – all eyes are on you, Dean Richards.

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And we're still not quite done…

It's always good fun to have a stab at figuring out who backed who in the battle for RWC hosting rights – shadowy horse-trading always features heavily.

So, using nothing more than our meagre powers of deduction and a few whispered rumours, here's our best guesstimate of how the IRB Council chose to accept Rugby World Cup Ltd's recommendation of England 2015 by 16 votes to ten.

For: Australia (2 votes*), New Zealand (2), Wales (2), England (2), Canada (1), Asia (1), Japan (1), North America (1), Europe (1), Oceania (1), Argentina (1), South America (1)

Against: France (2), Scotland (2), Ireland (2), South Africa (2), Italy (1), Africa (1).

Does that fit? Do you know something we don't? Spill the beans in the feedback section below!

* The four Home Unions, France, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand have two votes each; Italy, Japan, Argentina, Canada and the continental unions – Africa, Europe, North America, South America, Asia and Oceania – have one vote each.

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A word to the wise: position yourselves up-wind of India's Sevens side if you are planning on attending next year's Commonwealth Games – they have been advised to eat at least 15 eggs a day in preparation for the tournament.

The side's South African coach Norman Laker, clearly inspired by the heroic feats of the most muscular member of the Mr Men brigade, has told his charges that they must eat “six for breakfast and the remaining nine any time, any how, during the day”.

“Indian players weigh 72-77 kg on an average whereas the international players weigh between 88 and 100 kg – that is the weight difference you have to make up,” he said.

Perhaps we shouldn't joke – the young Percy Montgomery turned to eggs after he was told he was too small (and too pretty) for the cut and thrust of Test rugby.

Many omelettes later he became the most capped Springbok of all time (102 Tests) and his country's leading points-scorer with a final tally of 893 to his name. You'd need more than a fork to beat that effort.

We feel an even