LAST weekend I tuned in to watch Glasgow Warriors open up their European campaign against Exeter Chiefs, the champions of England. It was a tough old test for the Warriors, who unfortunately, just came up short in the end.
What did strike me however was, that while I like rugby, in terms of it as a sport, and a spectacle, and especially socially, what I gave up my Saturday to watch bore no resemblance to the game I had first fallen in love with.
While Warriors were playing a brand of rugby that entertains, the penny dropped as to how disillusioned I have become with the game in general when Exeter literally crawled over the line for their second try. I know we are all guilty of viewing things through rose-tinted spectacles.
But, I never got in to rugby to watch big hits or extol the virtues of drift or flat defences. Duckham, JJ, Gibson, Irvine, Steele, these were the guys that got me watching rugby.
I should have know what was coming several years ago when, a Scotland player who will remain nameless, spilled the ball with the line beckoning.
“You must have been disappointed?”
“Yes, but I’ll be back in the gym on Monday ...”
Said it all, really.
AND now for something a wee bit racy. Those delectable ladies who belong to the Scottish rallying fraternity have once again put their many talents together for the 2018 Scottish Rally Girls calendar.
Every penny raised by the girls will go to Macmillan Cancer Support, Prostate Scotland and the Gareth Roberts Fund and details of how to purchase a calendar can be found at scottishrallygirls.co.uk.
Well done girls, another great effort.
THE week began with Magnus Bradbury, the captain of Edinburgh, being suspended by the Pro14 outfit after the 22-year-old injured his head on a night out with friends a couple of weeks ago.
The week ended with John Hardie, the Edinburgh flanker, being suspended by Edinburgh, making him ineligible for international duties ahead of the Autumn Tests.
I am fortunate that I get to mix with and know a great many former international players. To man they will tell you the same thing; they loved playing, but wouldn’t want to play now.
As one said; “If every one of my misdemeanours outside rugby was picked up on, my career today would last a day.”
AND finally, as I mentioned earlier, last Saturday evening I settled down to watch Glasgow Warriors playing Exeter Chiefs, accompanied by my son Callum, who wasn’t quite sure whether or not I was telling the truth about me being shirt sponsors for the West Country outfit.
If you don’t know, the name ‘SW Comms’ is splashed across their jerseys.
One question he did ask during the game was if the referee was German. Why?
“He keeps shouting ‘nein, nein, nein’ at scrums. And he was right. Except the ref was Frenchman Alexandre Ruiz, who was actually yelling ‘nine, nine, nine’ to prevent scrum-half Ali Price going offside.
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