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| All Blacks v England in a game before this World Cup (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
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| New Zealand national rugby union team (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
It is often said that Rugby Union is the greatest game in the world, something I believe, although I don’t often say it myself. Here are three incidents from the first three days of the Rugby World Cup being played in England:
1. The
Samoan team stood in their practice jerseys and sang a beautiful hymn to Joost
Van der Westhuizen, former great halfback for the South African Springboks, who
has been diagnosed with motor neuron disease, as he listened from his wheelchair. At last sight, the video of this
has been seen by 125,000 people.
2. A
reporter has recorded how, as the crowds poured back from Brighton to London,
the fans of the Springboks, who were amazingly beaten by 43-to-1 underdog Japan
in a thrilling game, formed a guard through which they welcomed the Japanese
fans as they got off the train. No signs in Rugby of the hooliganism so common
to English fans in the world of soccer, the so-called beautiful game.
3. A reporter
has noted that after the All Blacks of New Zealand defeated a gallant challenge
from Argentina, in an absorbing and hard-fought game before 90,000 people at Wembley stadium, the home of British soccer, the All Black players
formed a double line through which they applauded the Argentine players as they
left the field.
If it
isn’t the world’s greatest game, how come its players and its fans seem to know the
difference between playing a game, something done for enjoyment, and real life?
A great start towards a peaceful world.
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