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Why rugby needs its Mummy
What rugby needs right now is to nurture the love once more.
Peter FitzSimons is an Australian journalist and author, based in Sydney. He is also a former Wallabies player.
What rugby needs right now is to nurture the love once more.
Rugby union needs to change the rules to revitalise the game.
Listen, I get that New Zealand takes their rugby seriously, and world rugby is all the better for that. But do you think, sometimes, they might be taking it a bit too seriously?
There are losses, there are bad losses, there are disgraceful losses, there are disgraceful losses including craven collapses and then . . . there is the Waratahs' 28-12 loss to the Brumbies at the Sydney Football Stadium last Saturday night.
In the beginning there was rugby, and it was good and it was great.
So there I bloody was ...
Told yers! I refer to the comments by the famous rugby league coach Chris Anderson this week: "Our biggest danger is rugby union ... It's a big world sport. It's taken over Europe. Rugby league has died in Europe. All good players now go to union; in England, in France. So it's a big game. It's growing in America. That's our danger. If we don't get our house in order, our danger is we'll be playing rugby union in 10 years."
Bring it in tight, you bastards and listen.
There are lessons among the class of 78 the Wallabies could take with them this week as they try to break a 30-year drought at Eden Park.
There are people driving on Sydney roads as we speak, with no memory of the Wallabies ever holding the Bledisloe high in triumph! When will it ever be ours again?
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