Westcombe Park Gents and Dartfordians IV saved the game of rugby!

There has been a lot of talk in the press of late about the future of rugby. People talk about how this rule, that rule or the other rule have changed the game for the better. I remember how wonderful everyone thought changing the rule regarding the kicking from within the 22 was. It would open the game up, force people to run and counter-attackt In truth it resulted in aimless kicking and a rather limited Argentina finishing 3rd in a World Cup. The powers that be decided that creating a contest at the break down would result in counter attacking rugby. In reality, it resulted in teams killing the ball at the break down and what I can only describe as stodgy, static, boring rugby. They reversed this, favouring the attacking team. All we get now is uncontested rucks and a million-a-one tackles a game. The art of rucking is almost lost.

Professionalism is damaging this wonderful game. Scrumaging is disregarded and badly officiated. How many times do we see collapsed scrums and referees willing to let things continue because it’s easier than figuring out who was wrong. We listen to commentators romanticise how regardless of your shape and size, there is always a position for you. The modern professional is a freak and does represent the average joe who puts on a shirt and chucks a ball about with his 14 mates on a Saturday.

As much as I love watching Ireland and Munster win Triple Crowns, Grand Slams and Heineken Cups, I’ll put on the stripes of ‘Combe and fight for my mates any day of the week. Win, Lose or Draw.

This wonderful game should be played without consideration of mistakes. The best things happen when people take a chance. As much as we admire Dan Carter, it was much more fun to watch Carlos Spencer. Despite the stoic reliability of Johnny Wilkinson, give me Thomas Castaignede any day of the week. Wilkinson’s stoicism was his downfall. He was 24 when he won the World Cup and has done nothing of any note since then. Shame.

I played in an awesome game of rugby on Saturday. The score ended 36-34. The lead changed hands 4 times and 11 tries were scored. It was by no means perfect, but it was a spectacle. I could speak of wonderful passes and stupid mistakes but it’s all irrelevant. We had a great game of rugby because two teams of 15 men walked out on a pitch and gave everything for 80 minutes. It's what it's all about