‘He threw his bricks out the pram, showed us disrespect’ – rugby’s last cross-code showdown remembered ahead of Ed Slater’s MND Headingley fundraiser
Ian Millward (St Helens) and Steve Diamond (Sale Sharks) were the coaches in charge back in 2003.
The last time rugby came together for a Clash of the Codes the crowd was so big the start had to be delayed and the end degenerated into a war of words still remembered a generation on.
“How boring is that when you stick the ball up your a**e and walk upfield?” St Helens coach Ian Millward snapped after his Super League champions lost at home to Sale Sharks. “I had to set my alarm clock at times.”
Saints came up short after scoring 39 points under league rules in response to conceding 41 in the first half of union. The clubs shared £150,000 in gate receipts and everyone went away happy.
Everyone, that is, except Millward. “He threw his bricks out the pram, didn’t he,” recalls Steve Diamond, back then coach of Sale. “Showed us disrespect. No sport deserves to be chastised like that.”
Upcoming Headingley clash
And so to the rematch. One month today league and union line up against each other at Headingley in a contest, dreamed up by MND warriors Ed Slater and the late Rob Burrow, to raise funds to fight that cruel disease.
It will be 21 years since Jason Robinson was excused England training by Clive Woodward to make a triumphant return to league with Sale that historic night at Knowsley Road.
More than two decades between Millward losing his rag and the codes again agreeing to collide for the best of reasons at the home of Leeds Rhinos.
“The 2003 game was not a friendly,” says Diamond, the now-Newcastle director of rugby. “It wasn’t played as a joke, a bit of fun. They had their top side out, we had our best players out and we went for it.”
He now concedes Millward “probably” had a point as, having agreed to de-power the scrum, Sale “basically just caught the ball at the line out and drove”.
Diamond was having none of it at the time, however, firing straight back after the Australian claimed his team were much more skilful and the timekeeper had ended the game early, which denied them victory.
“We agreed to be gentle with them at scrum time and conceded a lot to them by reducing the value of a penalty to two points,” he countered the morning after. “Oh, and letting them have five points for tries, which are more commonplace in League.
“They expected to put 80 points on us but we adapted to their game better than they adapted to ours. We shocked them with our fitness. As for the timekeeper, he was an employee of St Helens.
“The Saints players were fantastic afterwards. It is just sad that certain individuals reacted badly to what was an opportunity to appreciate the merits of both codes, rather than run down one against the other.
“You’ve got to show humility when you lose, not come out with sour grapes.”
League v Union collide as rugby codes unite for groundbreaking challenge in aid of MND
Eddie Hearn, the boxing promoter, would love all this. Last year he bemoaned rugby union’s failure to sell itself, to build stars and storylines. The cross-code concept sounds right up his street.
Slater certainly hopes so, given it is his idea to tap back into it with a contest played under unique hybrid rules – 13-a-side, unlimited tackles in your own half (six after halfway), uncontested scrums and line outs, five points for a try, two each for a conversion and drop goal.
It was a venture he proposed to Burrow on WhatsApp before the latter passed away in June; one aimed at uniting those in both sports “profoundly touched by MND”.
The name for the November 17 match, The 745 Game, comes from the numbers worn by Burrow (7), Slater (4) and the late, great Doddie Weir.
Such love is there for these men that, immediately, a raft of household names signed up; union stars Danny Cipriani, Tom Wood and Billy Twelvetrees, league trio Danny McGuire, Keith Senior and Adrian Morley.
Drawn by the cause, for sure, but could it also be the bragging rights? All these years on those involved that night at St Helens still get a kick out of the memory.
Richard Wigglesworth, just this week promoted to England senior assistant coach by Steve Borthwick, played scrum-half and the conversions he kicked ultimately proved to be the difference between the sides.
“We won, which we weren’t meant to,” he recalls. “No-one thought we would. Saints were 20-point favourites and build-up wise we hardly did anything. We didn’t know what we were doing.
“You remember the comical stuff. Chris Joynt coming right through the middle of a maul, Pete Anglesea yelling: ‘Oi, you’re not allowed to be in here, mate!’ and this Saints legend replying: ‘Oh, alright. Sorry!’
“Nick Walshe flopping on a ruck in the rugby league half, like five seconds after the tackle had happened, because we’d been told to slow the ball down!”
League’s influence on union
These days league’s influence is everywhere to be seen at the top of the union game, from Andy Farrell to Shaun Edwards to Kevin Sinfield and far beyond. The cross-code landscape looks very different.
“Where union has caught up with league is in strength and conditioning and overall professionalism,” says Diamond. “That’s just the money in the game. But I don’t think the product has grown as quickly as the development behind the scenes.
“The game needs names, more high profile people, the Marcus Smiths of the world,” Diamond adds, lamenting missed opportunities – particularly with two major league imports.
“Sam Burgess should have been a phenomenal union player but was not managed correctly. Never a forward. Bath without a doubt were wrong to play him at six.
“Likewise Henry Paul. Best rugby player in the world when he came across but union f***ed that up too. He should have been played full-back.”
That rugby, both versions, needs to broaden its appeal is beyond doubt. The upcoming Clash of the Codes is at least a start.
Tickets for The 745 Game are available now at tickets.therhinos.co.uk and by calling 0371 423 1315 during normal office hours.
