Loyalties have been tested among my gang of friends over the past few weeks as the Rugby World Cup has tried, largely unsuccessfully, to drag fans away from the regular English Premier League fixtures being screened on the weekend.
At my usual haunt, the rugger fans congregate around the big-screen TV at the back of the room, while the footy fans are in the middle of the room, watching the football from their usual vantage point.
Occasionally a roar arises from the other end of the room, which temporarily distracts the fans from whatever game they are watching. They check the score on the other code, then go back to their preferred viewing.
The situation has also led to comparisons being made between football and its petulant child, rugby union.
The obvious ones have been rolled out — including the inescapable fact that the footballers try their best to feign injury while the rugger players try to shake off their pain and get back into the fray, even when a flow of blood or a dangling limb suggests the situation is quite serious.
One of my friends from the north of England, who is familiar with both games, also pointed out something that I’d not noticed — that the rugby players, despite the ruggedness of their game (and, sometimes, their personalities), are generally far more deferential to the referee than the footballers.
I posited that this may be because, in much of the world, rugby is the game of private schools (or, as the English know them, public schools), where class is king and everybody knows their place.
“Yes, Sir. No, Sir,” a rugby player will say, whereas a footballer will do his best to show complete disdain for the ref, and even chat back, often resulting in a stiffer penalty, turning a caution into a yellow card or a yellow card into a red card. Even their captains don’t have the sense to drag them away from a volatile situation.
Of course, Premier League footballers earn so much money that it must be difficult for them to have any respect for anybody. But that’s no excuse for being stupid.
