Rugby’s rulers ignore the game’s marvellous heritage at their peril

The sport’s appeal is not just the shiny and new. It is also about tradition, fellowship and memories forged on small stages

Some of us went back in time at the weekend. There was no Doctor Who-style Tardis involved, just an easyJet flight (beware their petty hand luggage regulations) to Scotland for a reunion of old student friends. It was good fun and, certain hairlines aside, reassuring to find out how little people had changed in the 40-odd years since we first encountered each other in the stylish salons – OK, the saloon bars and Spud-U-Like shops – of Edinburgh in the 1980s.

And because it was a lovely afternoon on Saturday and we fancied reminding ourselves of our former athletic selves, a few of us decided to wander up the road and take in a game of club rugby. Heriot’s v Watsonians playing in – checks notes – the FOSROC Super Series Sprint. Sitting behind the posts at Goldenacre, with the sun shining and Edinburgh’s ancient skyline shimmering in the distance, the evocative old venue really did seem appropriately named. We all enjoyed the day immensely.

As it happened, the Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend was also there, watching his 22-year-old son Christian playing at full-back for Heriot’s. And when we piled into the clubroom for a mutton pie – £2, don’t examine the filling too closely – it was impossible to miss the large number of framed photographs of ex-Scotland internationalists hanging on the wall. You know you’re getting older when faces of a vaguely similar vintage are now dripping in sepia.

By sheer coincidence, one of our number found himself staring up at a picture of his own grandfather. Back in the day Dan Drysdale was one of the foremost full-backs of his era, a stand-out player both for Scotland and the British & Irish Lions. The late Clem Thomas, in his History of the British Lions, described Drysdale as having “played marvellously throughout as a running full-back” during the 1924 tour to South Africa. The following year, in 1925, he was a similarly key member of the first Scotland side in history to secure a grand slam.

Almost exactly a century later, it felt a timely moment to pay our respects to the fabled legend. Just as it did, a little further along the row of pictures, to touch the (vanished) forelock in tribute to another brilliant local full-back. Even in faraway rural England, some of us saw Andy Irvine as a supreme sporting hero, his constant can-do enthusiasm for counter-attacking among the global game’s most glorious sights. It reached the point where my adolescent mind started to wonder if “Heriot’s FP” stood for “Fabulous Players” rather than “Former Pupils”.

Remarkably, another celebrated attacking Test full-back, Ken Scotland, was educated at the same establishment, making the lineage even more impressive. People used to talk about whistling down the mines of northern England for fast bowlers or monitoring the production line at Max Boyce’s Welsh fly-half factory. If there is a Scottish equivalent for full-backs, it can be found a well-struck punt away from Edinburgh’s Royal Botanic Garden.

Which begged a slightly broader question. If the Heriot’s No 15 jersey rates among the most mythical of British and Irish club jerseys, which other garments merit potential inclusion in the ultimate kitbag? The blue and black No 9 of Cardiff should certainly be in the frame, with Gareth Edwards and Terry Holmes just two of the distinguished alumni to have worn it. How about the red Munster No 10 jersey, worn so memorably by, among others, Tony Ward and Ronan O’Gara? Or the blue Leinster No 13 shirt, forever synonymous with Brian O’Driscoll?

There are plenty more contenders, clearly, just as there are endless old stadiums inhabited by the ghosts of rugby’s past. If you are passing Redruth, for example, go and pay homage to “Hellfire Corner” and imagine the ominous studs of ferocious Cornish packs of yesteryear clattering towards you. Or, alternatively, stand for a while in the Shed at Kingsholm and visualise those cold, dark evenings when Cherry & White forwards would eat innocent Oxbridge half-backs for tea, howled on by home supporters who, in many cases, viewed a trip to Cheltenham as an exotic awayday.

In short, we are talking about heritage. Rugby has loads of it and, right now, it is not terribly in fashion. The professional game has morphed into something very different – vastly improved in numerous respects, less fabulous in others – and anonymous-looking new stadia have largely replaced the old school cathedrals.

Which is fine, up to a point. Any game that stands still will stagnate; a sport that lives in the past is inevitably doomed. But when, the other week, the hugely promising England forward, Chandler Cunningham-South, confessed to having no idea his mentor Richard Hill had been a World Cup winning flanker in 2003 it further served to underline how quickly rugby’s once-central pillars can fade into the background.

The aforementioned FOSROC Super Series, introduced as recently as 2019, is the latest casualty, set to be scrapped this year in the ceaseless pursuit of change. Exactly how the Scottish domestic scene will look in future remains unclear but mutton pies, old school full-backs and simple pleasures are not obviously part of the zeitgeist. If it is smart, though, the game will realise rugby’s appeal is not just about the shiny and the new. It is also built on tradition, fellowship and an enduring truth: the best sporting memories are not always created on the biggest of stages or the most high-profile of days.

Tackle London

The murder of Sgt Matt Ratana, the Met Police police officer shot dead at a custody centre in Croydon in September 2020, will forever be a painful loss for all who knew the rugby-loving 54-year-old, formerly a coach at East Grinstead RFC. In his memory, however, some great work is being done to help disadvantaged kids via mentoring and playing rugby. TackleLondon, a joint initiative between his foundation, Bristol’s STAR scheme and Jason Leonard’s Atlas Foundation, has now been set up with the aim of empowering young Londoners to achieve their potential. Please follow this link – www.tacklelondon.org – to learn more.

One to watch

This weekend’s women’s Six Nations title decider between France and England in Bordeaux could be a vintage occasion. If last weekend’s annihilation of Ireland suggested England have run into form at just the right moment to secure a sixth straight Six Nations title, their dramatic last-gasp loss to New Zealand in the World Cup final 18 months ago underlined the difference that big game pressure can sometimes make. As John Mitchell stressed to the Guardian last month rugby can be as much a mental game as a physical one. “In professional sport you have to prepare for the worst case. Maybe in the last World Cup we didn’t do that.” Expect his new, improving Red Roses to get the job done this time.

Memory lane

In 2014, England’s women won their second, and most recent world championship; the Six Nations earlier that year however, belonged to France. As it will be this weekend, a decade ago the destination of a grand slam was determined by the match-up in France between Les Bleues and England. In Grenoble in 2014 it was the opening game and it went decisively the way of the home side who, garlanded by the talent of Jessy Trémoulière and Gaëlle Mignot, ran out 18-6 winners with the latter recording a brace of second-half tries. It marked France’s first home Six Nations win over England since 2004. That day included two players still involved with the Red Roses; Marlie Packer, who will captain England in Bordeaux on Saturday, and Emily Scarratt. They were marshalled in 2014 by Gary Street, the coach who is still recovering from a stroke suffered in January this year; with a Go Fund Me page still accepting donations to help his family with his rehabilitation here.

Still want more?

It was another thrilling weekend in the Premiership, with Northampton making their move at the top, watched by Gerard Meagher.

Meanwhile in the Women’s Six Nations, it was raining tries at Twickenham, as reported by Sarah Rendell.

And Wales and Scarlets say farewell to a legend, as Ken Owens hangs up his boots.

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