Rugby: England 34, France 10

Right, a new category for this blog - sport. I tend, not surprisingly, to
collect images that use sand in any way, and the picture above comes from an
advertising campaign last summer by the major sponsor of the English Rugby team.
The campaign was designed to promote interest in the game amongst the country’s
youth by setting up beach festivals where England players would show up,
sometimes in exotic costumes. The campaign culminated on an urban beach in
London. Now, given that English rugby had just suffered a series of humiliating
defeats in the southern hemisphere over the summer, it struck me that an image
of the sport based on sand, not the most tough or durable construction, might
stand me in good stead for the winter internationals (although, of course, I
hoped not). After further defeats and endless hand-wrung column inches in the
press, and accusations flung around about the ability of the new coach and
manager to coach and manage, we came down to yesterday’s match, always one of
the high profile and emotional conflicts, England versus France. Aha, I thought,
time for the resonance of my sand image. And I’m in France right now, so, for a
match billed in advance as “le crunch,” I was prepared for putting up with the
far-from-impartial enthusiasm of the French TV commentators, the triumphant
headlines in today’s newspapers.

BUT, in an extraordinary game, England not only
won, but, to put it bluntly, thrashed the French (they were leading 29-0 at half
time). The headline in the sporting press is shown below. In other reports “le
crunch” became “le crash,” and humiliation was a commonly used word. So, it was
just a game, and does not necessarily signal the renaissance of English rugby
- but what a game!

I should mention, for American readers, that yes, rugby is peculiar in some
ways (being required to throw the ball backwards does not make immediate sense),
but it is a great sport. I am, after all the years I spent in the States, a fan
of American football (should I admit, the Philadelphia Eagles?), but I remain an
ex-rugby player at heart; and you could watch two rugby matches in the time it
takes to get through one NFL game.

And one more connection between rugby and sand. Points can be scored by
kicking the ball between the posts, the ball being placed these days in a
kicking “tee.” But it was not that long ago that the ball would be set up for
the kick by an assistant running on to the pitch with a bucket of sand, out of
which the kicker would build a small pile into which he would carefully embed
the ball. SIGNATURE

Comments

suvrat (2009-03-16):

that was an awesome match. saw it live in India on the French channel TV5. didn’t know you were a rugby fan too.

Sandglass (2009-03-16):

Absolutely! I admit that I held back a little with “thrashed” - “demolished,” “dissected,” and “annihilated” also came to mind. Given that the English team had been (justifiably) criticised for errors, the French bumbling was quite extraordinary - “le pauvre Sebastien Chabal”! And I could have included many more choice quotations from the French press. But I’m impressed - what time was the game shown in India???

suvrat (2009-03-17):

Sunday late evening. ya, we have a cultish but sizable rugby community over here in Pune.
check out these videos:
Pune Girls Rugby

suvrat (2009-03-17):

oops, link didn’t come through:
http://suvratk.blogspot.com/2008/11/pune-girls-rugby-kicks-ass.html

Sandglass (2009-03-17):

Thanks for the link - I’d found it already. Good stuff - and I really like the names of the teams!

Susan (2009-03-21):

Hi Survat,
Are there any bars/restuarants in Pune that show TV5 live rugby matches? I want to catch the Welsh Irish match later today but don’t have TV5.

Sandglass (2009-03-21):

Hi Susan - I’ve sent Suvrat an e-mail to let him know about your question. I won’t ask who you support!
Cheers
Michael

suvrat (2009-03-21):

Susan-
only France matches are live on TV5Monde. others will be shown time delay during the week. check Star Sports around 12 or 12.30 in the afternoon.
If you don’t have cable, there is a sports bar on North Koregaon Park road called The Hidden Place where you should be able to watch these matches. I don’t know if they have TV monde but they will have Star Sports.
cheers

Originally published at: https://throughthesandglass.typepad.com/through_the_sandglass/2009/03/rugby-england-34-france-10.html