WITH just two days to go before the start of the Rugby World Cup, a lot of us are genuinely agog with anticipation. Even if Scotland do not, by some cruel quirk of fate, actually end up winning the thing, they will still be involved in at least four big games over the space of two and a half weeks. And there will, of course, be any number of other matches worth watching, as the best teams on the planet gather in England to take part in the quadrennial quest for supremacy.
Yet how many people, not just here but throughout the UK, are interested enough in rugby to know even a few basic facts about the sport in general as well as the tournament in particular? Judging by a survey carried out by gambling firm Bwin over the weekend, not as many as the organisers of the World Cup, or rugby administrators in general, might like to think.
Yes, I know, surveys can be slanted to suit the purpose of the people asking the questions. This one, in common with many others on a variety of subjects, increased the percentage of incorrect responses - and thus the apparent depth of ignorance - by asking those who took the survey to select an answer from a list even if they were not sure which of four options was correct.
Even so, at a time when politicians and sporting officials like to tell teams that the whole nation is behind them as they head off in search of glory, the results were a salutary reminder of how far rugby has to go before it achieves real recognition throughout the population. Fewer than half those surveyed knew that five points are awarded for a try, for example. Forty-four per cent did not know how long a game of rugby is supposed to last - although we could say the same of some referees, of course.
And, when asked to name the current England captain, just over half answered correctly - Chris Robshaw. Of the others, 13 per cent went for TV chef James Martin, 12 per cent for ex-Celtic goalkeeper Fraser Forster, and the rest - more than 21 per cent - for Jonny Wilkinson.
That last question is possibly the most interesting one to anyone whose job or inclination is to help rugby reach a bigger proportion of the population. Not because some answered Forster or Martin - they might just have been meaningless names on a list as far as some respondents were concerned - but because so many people, 12 years on from his and his national team’s greatest moment, still see Wilkinson as the face of English rugby.
The 2003 World Cup winner will have his equivalents elsewhere. Ask a random selection of Scots to name our captain, for instance, and you will surely get a fair number who think it’s Gavin Hastings, despite the fact that the old boy is now 53 and retired from international sport five World Cups ago. Or if you asked folk, more generally, to name a few Scottish rugby players they had heard of, Hastings would still be right up there, at least neck and neck in terms of public recognition with Chris Paterson, who is 15 years younger. Gregor Townsend would also be there, thanks in part to his being the current coach of Glasgow Warriors, while the likes of Doddie Weir and Peter Wright might also make it on to the list thanks to their media work.
It makes you wonder if there is a general time lag between an event and public recognition of it, or if we are all in fact living a couple of decades in the past. I’ll leave you to think about that one for a few minutes while I take a break to listen to Parklife, the new album by Blur. . . .
Still here? Actually, the length of the time lag probably depends on the last big relevant event the public have in mind. So in English rugby, no achievement has come close to what the national side did in Australia in 2003. In Scotland, no-one has had as great a stature as leader as Hastings did - and the fact that he retired at the 1995 World Cup, the most memorable by far of the seven tournaments to date, can only have enhanced his recognition.
It’s about time that changed. It’s about time that a member of the current Scotland team grew into a public figure of some standing. It’s about time, too, that we had another World Cup which approached that one 20 years ago for drama and excitement.
At least, if we were offered one wish - and told we were not allowed to use it to ensure victory for our own team - that is what a lot of us would plump for. A tournament that is so enjoyable, of such a high standard, that the achievements of the likes of Hastings and Wilkinson are, if not entirely forgotten, at least forced to play second fiddle to more recent feats.
Two days to go. Let’s hope it’s a good one, as John Lennon sang the other week.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel