Not for the squeamish but Ah!F.U!

By acoi
March 23 2006

Haemorrhoids are an occupational hazard for some. A good pet name for them is, ‘’Suits’’. They are very often excruciatingly irritating, occasionally painful, but are the only thing between the beneficiary and deep sh*t!

We are most of us prone to slag off the Ah!F.U! for the way they deal with professional rugby is, in the manner of the Himalayan myth, both mysterious and abominable, in the opinion of many.

It would, though, be a ghastly mistake to endeavour to do away with the R.F.U.. It is too easily forgotten when sticking up for our club and professional game to lose sight of rugby - the lower leagues and amateur game played by many thousands of a weekend with the old ethos now fading fast from the professional game of camaraderie, a healthy thirst to quench, and an aggressive streak to sate much better satisfied between consenting adults in the mud than between startled pensioners in a shopping arcade?

This structure only continues to exist because of the countless unselfish volunteers this sport breeds, and the R.F.U.. I believe all the clubs, schools, referees, and many other individuals and groups affiliated need the organisational umbrella provided by the R.F.U.; the referees they train and provide; the basic injury insurance [inadequate though it may be] they insist upon and subsidise; the leagues, knockout competitions and tournaments they arrange; the grants for grounds, kit and facilities; - the list is as accurate as I can manage without swotting, and goes on and on.

They are obliged by their articles to provide a national stadium and a national team. We have many critical opinions of the way the provide the latter, rightly or wrongly, but the fact they do is to be applauded, as is the way they use it to reward the army of volunteers within the game by allocating tickets for Twickenham to local clubs, referees and schools [correct me if I’m out of date], because this is scant reward for the effort put in by these selfless folk upon whom the game depends. So next time you whinge for not having a ticket, think on.

I advocate a small, efficient, and accountable R.F.U. strictly in accordance with it’s founding ethos to continue to provide this umbrella, the national stadium and the national team. That is, you understand, very different from the current Ah!F.U!, but also very different from any control by the professional game.

It would be better to separate the R.F.U. role from the professional game. The professional clubs have earned the right and seem more fitted to oversee their own businesses without interference or the political machinations of the Ah!F.U!, but appear to be ill equipped to take over their wider cause.

It should, then, be an equal partnership of mutual interest. There is room, nay a need, for both, but this seeming spiral of mutual destruction must stop. It is time to move forward.