RWU HQ – Chalk this up in the column containing All Things Interesting.
According to a report by The Telegraph, England is banning their players from writing columns and making diaries during the 2015 World Cup in England.
“We feel it is important that the players focus as much as possible on rugby during what will be the most intense period of their rugby careers,” an England Rugby spokesman told the newspaper, according to ESPNScrum.
Ruggers will have to cut ties with their media friends after their final warm-up match two weeks prior to the opening round next October.
Gavin Mairs, a rugby news correspondent for the paper, noted in his Sept. 23 story that “there is a feeling is some quarters that the move will prevent the players from maximizing their commercial value during the nine-week period from England’s last warm-up match and the final at Twickenham on Oct 31 next year.”
This brings up an interesting dilemma to the world of rugby. Considering England is hosting the World Cup, they will not want to pass up this opportunity to keep the Webb Ellis Cup on home soil next fall.
The move shouldn’t harm the English team much, but it could hurt the media coverage of the event. It’s going to be hard to replace want the English ruggers could have brought to the table as far as content. For an event like the World Cup, a first-person point of view will be hard to beat. A lot of readers would have been attracted to reading their team’s diaries about everything going on during the World Cup.
Could you imagine reading LeBron James’ take on winning the gold medal with Team U.S.A. at the London Summer Olympics two years ago? That would have been priceless. The ball is now in the journalist’s court, as they will have to find their creative juices for new and attractive content.
What do you think about Stuart Lancaster’s move to prohibit his players from writing columns or making journals during the 2015 World Cup? Fair or foul?
