Pre-game incident has gone viral online and plays directly into broader debate of how the sport wants to be perceived
N
o prizes for guessing the most viewed rugby clip at the weekend. The number of views on X has long since passed three million and – spoiler alert – people were not studying the finer detail of Gloucester’s defensive effort at Villa Park on Saturday. Leicester’s Geoff Parling used to be just another stern-faced Prem coach; suddenly he is an unlikely global social media star.
For those who missed it – and here’s hoping you enjoyed your mini-break on Jupiter – here is a potted summary. The TNT Sport presenter Craig Doyle and a new colleague, Liam MacDevitt, were on the pitch before the game, with MacDevitt being urged to take a kick at goal as part of his on-screen Prem initiation. All seemed OK right until the moment an angry Parling loomed into shot.
Asked by a cheery Doyle whether he would consider signing up the debutant – the kick didn’t miss by much – Parling responded by unceremoniously shoving the Irish presenter away and bluntly telling both men – “It’s fucking not on!” – to get lost. At which point pretty much the entire internet collapsed beneath the weight of people rushing to offer their hot takes on the episode.
