The brutiful game

The recent snow meant that I was confined to barracks over the weekend for long periods. No worries, It thought, there is always the Heineken Cup rugby on the TV.
I watched a lot of rugby over the weekend  and was struck how lacking in charm and guile it all was. Yes of course the weather was not very good, but it all seemed to consist of oversize brutes clattering into each other. Whilst rugby has always been like this to some extent (and being from Pontypool I know that more than most) the Heineken Cup seems to bring out more of these tactics than any other rugby that you care to watch. This style of rugby is ideally suited to big thick-set specimens and the winners seem to be the teams who can invest in the biggest and best South Sea Islanders, South Africans or Argentinians. Once you have got a pile of these guys on the field and almost as importantly on the bench you can hold your own against anybody. Don't think that these guys are just the forwards but they can be found in the backs as well. Tactically you just batter away with these juggernauts until the other side gives away a penalty. This can be achieved at scrum, line out ruck and maul or even when the other side is attacking. It is attritional to the extreme and not at all entertaining to watch unless you happen to support either of the sides that are playing. As you might expect, injuries abound and and you really need a large squad to be competitive.
In addition to this, the game is littered with professional fouls, off the ball incidents and baffling refereeing decisions. Why would anyone other than a hardened rugby fan want to watch it?
The Heineken Cup is played at a time of year when the weather is often poor and pitches are often sodden. This means that trying to outwit the juggernauts with speed and guile is not an option. By the time the final comes around and the weather has improved the running sides have been steamrollered so the final is rarely the rugby showpiece it could be.
You might say this is all sour grapes as the Welsh Regions have clearly not been very good at this type of rugby. Shortage of funds has meant that they can no longer afford to recruit hired muscle. From a Welsh team perspective it is good that the regions are all eliminated from Eurpoean competition as any more injuries and we will need to get the Pontypool Front Row out of retirement.