Section:GDN 1N PaGe:42 Edition Date:190815 Edition:01 Zone: Sent at 14/8/2019 19:23 cYanmaGentaYellowb
- The Guardian Thursday 15 Aug ust 2019
(^42) Sport
Rugby union
Britain sees rugby as
a white, middle-class
sport. This squad can
change that for good
Ugo Monye
W
henever a World
Cup squad is
announced it
elicits a lot of
emotions : joy
for those who
have been picked, anger for those
who have n ot, excitement for those
of us eagerly anticipating the start
of the competition – and perhaps
a little bit of worry in this case at
the risks Eddie Jones has taken.
But personally, the overriding
emotion at the moment is pride.
I’m incredibly proud that these 31
players get to represent our country
as the most diverse England World
Cup squad ever selected.
More than a third of the players
in the squad are from BAME
backgrounds. There are so many
diff erent cultures but they are
all united by the purpose of
representing England. It is a true
refl ection of modern society and
what pleases me most is how it has
come about naturally. There has not
been any box-ticking or anything like
that, this is Eddie’s best 31 on merit.
Rugby has always been seen
as a white, middle -class sport in
England. That was the case when I
played the game. I believe it still is.
I cannot say it was something that
bothered me during my career –
that’s the beauty of team sport , you
put everything to one side because
you’ve got a job to do – but I love the
way that things are changing. It has
not been forced or manufactured ;
it has just happened organically.
Eddie often says to judge him on
the World Cup and, of course, he is
talking about results. But, with the
huge increase in exposure, in terms
of the number of casual rugby fans
tuning in, this incredibly diverse
World Cup squad can succeed in
changing the perception of rugby
in this country and I just love that.
We’ve seen it with the cricket team ,
we’ve seen how both the men’s
and the women’s football teams
have inspired at recent World Cups
and I hope Eddie’s squad will do
the same with upwards of 10 m
people watching. Put simply, the
more diverse the squad is, the more
relatable it is to the wider public.
Eddie’s remit is simple : to pick the
best players, and that is regardless
of where they or their parents were
born. That goes without saying
but I do think Eddie’s own heritage
and background helps, as does the
fact that he has coached Australia,
South Africa and Japan. He’s a
well-travelled man with so much
experience and he understands
diff erent cultures.
It is inconceivable a squad will
come together and win the World
Cup without being totally united
and Eddie knows that. You need
that shared mind set because team
culture is absolutely everything
in sport. That starts with the
relationships you build with one
another.
A
nd this squad is not
just diverse in terms
of ethnicity. Look at
two of the headline
names in the squad
- Lewis Ludlam and
Ruaridh McConnochie. Both have
such inspirational journeys to a
World Cup squad. The usual route to
international rugby in this country
is to start playing the sport at fi ve,
go into an academy system at 11,
progress through the club, play at
all the age groups and then play for
England. I’m not sure you can say
that about those two because this
time last year Ludlam was fi ghting
for a contract at Northampton.
The Olympic sevens medallist
McConnochie has had more XVs
experience at an amateur level than
professional. Their selection brings
a lot of hope to a lot of people. It
makes them so lik able, because
they’ve had to work so hard.
I’d be lying if I said I don’t have
concerns about the unknown
quantity of some players, simply
because we do not know how they
will cope in a competition as intense
as the World Cup but the last thing
I am going to do at this stage is
criticise someone or write them off.
This will be Eddie’s fourth World
Cup and I do believe that, when you
combine that with the experience of
John Mitchell, it will help to off set
the fact that there is not as much
experience in some departments of
the playing squad.
Finally, a word for those players
who just missed out. They can go
into mourning for a week or two, or
even longer if that is what they want
to do, but ultimately that will not
help. I narrowly missed out in 2011
and, speaking from experience, I
would say you have to get yourself
ready for if and when that phone
call comes. It may never come – it
didn’t for me because there wasn’t
an injury – but I used the anger
at missing out as motivation to
prove people wrong. Myself, Chris
Robshaw and Danny Care were all
overlooked for that tournament but
we hit the ground running at the
start of the season and ended up
as Premiership champions. It can
be a driving force if you use the
disappointment in the right way.The diversity is a
true refl ection of
modern society and
there has been no
box-ticking. This is
our best 31 on merit
Lewis Ludlam
( front) and
his teammates
arrive for the
World Cup squad
announcement
on Monday
DAVID ROGERS/
RFU/GETTYWales believe
atmosphere of
closed roof will
test Jones’ men
Paul ReesMatches between Wales and England
in Cardiff this decade have tended to
be preceded by a skirmish over the roof
at the Principality Stadium but it will
be closed on Saturday with the hosts
not needing their opponents’ consent
because the World Cup warm-up is not
bound by competition rules.
The decision is Wales’s and, while
rain is forecast in the Welsh capital ,
a heatwave would not have tempted
them to let in the air as they look to
the atmosphere in a closed stadium
to help them avenge the 33-19 defeat
at Twickenham on Sunday.
“Playing at the stadium is some-
thing we always look forward to,”
the Wales forwards’ coach, Robin
McBryde, said. “It is a bit of a fortress
for us [New Zealand were the last visi-
tors to win there in November 2017]
and the fans love it. I hope we will
have the roof closed because we are
in charge, building the atmosphere so
we can really test ourselves out.
“We think England will be much
changed from last weekend and
come with some big names and
that’s what we want. You want to test
yourselves against the best teams in
the world and that is what we will be
doing on Saturday.”
Wales intended to keep changes
to a minimum to replicate their fi rst
two games in the World Cup, which
will also be played six days apart,
but they will be without the fl y-half
Gareth Anscombe, who suff ered knee
ligament damage at Twickenham that
ruled him out of the tournament. The
fl anker Justin Tipuric is among the
players who picked up minor knocks.
Wales’s fi nal two warm-up games
are against Ireland, who are spending
eight days training in the Algarve
before the match against England at
Twickenham next week. Ireland’s
head coach, Joe Schmidt, has trimmed
the squad by three to 40 and will have
to decide whether to gamble in Japan
on the fl y-half Joey Carbery, who will
be out for between four and six weeks
after sustaining an ankle injury against
Italy last weekend.
Duncan Taylor and John Barclay
return from long-term injuries for
Scotland against France in Nice on
Satur day. South Africa have been
rocked by the resignation of their
attack coach, Swys de Bruin, for “per-
sonal and medical” reasons.
The former Leicester wing Steve
Booth has died at the age of 42.▲ Wales can close the roof without
England’s assent unlike the Six NationsРЕЛИЗ ПОДГОТОВИЛА ГРУППА "What's News" VK.COM/WSNWS