Loose forward Kwagga Smith is the latest injury concern for the Springboks.
One of my favourite rugby writers, the Englishman Chris Hewett, coined a classic phrase to describe World Rugby. Hewett, semi-retired now and formerly of the London Independent, calls World Rugby the “Non-governing Governing Body” or NGGB — an organisation that moves at a pace best described as geological.
Hewett, writing in The Rugby Paper, amusingly says that “in a foot race with continental drift, the NGGB would be left in the starting blocks.”
A classic case in point is World Rugby’s failure to nail down an international calendar which has a starting point in the year for every country under its governance, a finishing point, and a mandatory three-month off-season where all players get to put their feet up and recover from the season’s brutal physical and mental toll.
The problem, as we know, is that the establishment of a global season would mean significant change for certain countries. And when a long-established bully in New Zealand is one of the nations being asked to compromise, tough talking is required.
