More questions than answers in rugby union's land of coronavirus confusion
over 5 years in The guardian
Rugby union does not have the financial muscle of football and the prolonged shutdown is asking some searching questions of the game’s administrators
There are far more important things in life than a few weeks or, perhaps, months without rugby. It is going to be a while before the world returns to something approaching normality, never mind the oval-shaped segment of it. That said, given every major league and tournament on the planet – both club and international – is now affected to some degree, it is already clear rugby’s administrators in both hemispheres are staring into the abyss.
Unlike the upper echelons of top‑level football, rugby is not a sport cosily insulated from the real world. CVC’s investment may change things – potentially at a price if the big fixtures are no longer on free-to-air television – but the game has mostly lived on its wits for the first 25 years of professionalism. When the sums have not quite added up, extra money-spinning games have been added. Should the precise opposite become unavoidable, what next? Costs and wages have risen steadily and even the healthier parts of the sport have already been feeling the pinch. As with the airline industry, rugby feels more vulnerable to the pandemic than most. Continue reading...