A new blog after the summer break shold be full of the hopes the new season. However, Blood-gate has damaged rugby to an immeasurable degree. The fact that Dean Richards an England legend took advantage of law designed to protect the health of players to gain an advantage over opposition in a European cup 1/4 final puts into question the ethos of rugby union.
Rugby union has always been a game of contrasts on the playing field it is the prerogative of the players to push the limits of offside and technical laws. Downright cheating has always been frowned upon and what Dean Richards did was cheating. To buy blood capsules and then force a doctor to make real cut on a player therefore violating the Hippocratic oath is the sign of a bully.
The question is why? Dean Richards the player was a ferocious beast of a man with a sixth sense on where to be on the playing field. He hated training but never seemed to lack for fitness. He was part of the old school of amateur players, a traffic policeman whose legendary post grand slam kcelebration of kicking the Calcutta cup down Princess street after drinking perfume was legendary.
Dean Richards the coach, was incredibly successful, with league titles and European cup titles. However he was fired from that Leicester Tigers role. The equivalent of this would be Alex Ferguson being fired from the Manchester United job after winning the Champions league. Their was no uproar from the players. Does this indicate that the coach although a legend was not well liked. The rumours from Grenoble and Harlequins echo this. So it seems although the man brings success he brings it by terrifying everyone around him
The question for rugby now is what next, undoubtedly opposing doctors must be allowed to assess players for validity of injuries especially in the front row. Professional ethics rules have to be pushed back into the game breaking ethics codes whether coach, captain, chairman or CEO should result in severe sanctions. Rugby has real credibility issues the problems at Bath, the ridiculous South African protest about a citing on the lions tour and a general forgetting of the principles of the game.
A new blofg Rugby union has always been a game of contrasts on the playing field it is the prerogative of the players to push the limits of offside and technical laws. Downright cheating has always been frowned upon and what Dean Richards did was cheating. To buy blood capsules and then force a doctor to make real cut on a player therefore violating the Hippocratic oath is the sign of a bully.
The question is why? Dean Richards the player was a ferocious beast of a man with a sixth sense on where to be on the playing field. He hated training but never seemed to lack for fitness. He was part of the old school of amateur players, a traffic policeman whose legendary post grand slam kcelebration of kicking the Calcutta cup down Princess street after drinking perfume was legendary.
Dean Richards the coach, was incredibly successful, with league titles and European cup titles. However he was fired from that Leicester Tigers role. The equivalent of this would be Alex Ferguson being fired from the Manchester United job after winning the Champions league. Their was no uproar from the players. Does this indicate that the coach although a legend was not well liked. The rumours from Grenoble and Harlequins echo this. So it seems although the man brings success he brings it by terrifying everyone around him
The question for rugby now is what next, undoubtedly opposing doctors must be allowed to assess players for validity of injuries especially in the front row. Professional ethics rules have to be pushed back into the game breaking ethics codes whether coach, captain, chairman or CEO should result in severe sanctions. Rugby has real credibility issues the problems at Bath, the ridiculous South African protest about a citing on the lions tour and a general forgetting of the principles of the game.
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