RUGBY UNION

It is our contention that if, as ten-year-olds, Jonathan Davies, Jerry Guscott, Gareth Edwards, Gerald Davies and Barry John had been taken to an international match played 2016 style, none of them would have been tempted to take up the game.

Why? Because nowadays most of the playing time is devoted to mud-wrestling and a considerable number of the remaining minutes are devoted to inflicting grievous bodily harm.

The authorities wring their hands and deplore the incontrovertible evidence that the modern game spends too much time in what is called the “breakdown area” (where all is horizontal and muddy), but they show no desire to revise the rules so as to recreate the “running, passing game” which used to enthral the sporting public, and which the late Carwyn James perfected in the early seventies (thereby engineering the only series victory in New Zealand ever achieved by the British Lions).

The authorities are also well aware that serious brain damage is a fact of life in the modern game, now that modern medical technology has revealed the full extent of the damage unnecessary physicality can inflict. They pay lip service to the principle that a game is not a fight and that the tackle is a method of bringing a player to the ground, not an opportunity to damage his body and/or his brain. To make matters worse, they do nothing to outlaw the philosophy that “big hits” are part of the attraction of the contest.

As a result today’s ten-year-old spectators and their parents  are more than likely to find themselves watching something slow, boring, static, grossly unpleasant and dangerous.

Incidentally, and we speak without having done much homework, it may well be the case that Rugby League does a better job in every one of the above respects.

Any good signs? Two. First, England under Eddie Jones – too busy trying to play the game as it should be played to waste time on the horrors described above.

Second, the running and ball-handling skills of Scotland’s full-back, Stuart Hogg. Brilliant in the last World Cup and voted Player of the Tournament after the 2016 Six Nations. We seem to recall seeing an All Blacks outside half who plays real rugby as it should be played, with a generous measure of pure genius thrown in for no extra charge, but such players will become an endangered species, and then an extinct species, if the authorities do not sit up and take notice.

RACING

California Chrome, American Pharoah and more recently Arrogate have done much to reassure the racing groupie that America can do racing pretty well. Not that we needed much convincing now that, in addition to the Breeders’ Cup,  American winners at Ascot and Deauville have become regular occurrences.

Another reason to be cheerful is the emergence of octogenarian Art Sherman. As we understand it, Mr Sherman spent fifty years training fairly moderate horses before CC came along, and yet his handling of that champion over four years has been in the Vincent O’Brien class. All accomplished with amazing charm and courtesy.

Incidentally, CC runs next at Los Alamitos (The Winter Challenge) on December 17^th. This is his warm-up before a hugely valuable race on January 28^th at a track which I think is called Gulf Stream.

Can life get any better? How about the emergence of Thistlecrack and Cue Card? Plus that of Mr Colin Tizzard at the top end of the jumping game.

It was suggested to Donec that Mr Tizzard might find his recent rise and rise difficult to handle. However our in-house professor-of-everything soon put that suggestion to bed. We understand that Mr Tizzard is a considerable dairy farmer. He is therefore accustomed to big plans, large investments, huge overdrafts, the need to think ahead and to stay calm. A considerable farmer of any sort is an entrepreneur. Change that might unbalance someone accustomed to a more limited landscape will not bother him. Think of that other entrepreneurial dairy farmer, Mr Michael Eavis of Glastonbury.

Milk is clearly the key.  If you can do milk, you can do anything. Milk is not the whole story, however. We suspect that in both cases tremendous family support plays a huge part in the two success stories.

Did I mention staying calm? Mr Tizzard stayed calm when Thistlecrack ran at Cheltenham on November 12^th and jumped deplorably. His jockey didn’t look much good either, but he stayed calm as well. No distress signals from anybody. The partnership reappeared at Newbury a fortnight later and produced as brilliant a clear round as you could hope to see. Reaction from the connections? Satisfaction. No big deal. Calmness. And one can be pretty sure that “Job done!” will not have been Mr Tizzard’s verdict on the performance. “Work in progress” more likely.

COMMERCIAL BREAKS

For several years Paddy Power (Whoa there, Nelly!) was the funniest diversion between televised races. PP is still a force to be reckoned with, but the top spot must now belong to Betway with its Arctic epic. The casting is superb, the dialogue witty beyond belief. Add to that the separate worlds in which the protagonists exist and the development of the drama – everything is perfect and not a false note to be seen or heard.

Strangely enough, its follow-up (the dinghy and the sharks) is hopeless: from the first shot everybody knows what it is all about and nothing much happens. Perhaps it is not strange: perhaps it is just a reminder that flashes of genius are not everyday occurrences.

This is an art form that we should cherish.

WIKIPEDIA

is the best library anyone ever had. It knows everything and it tells the truth. It also needs money. Donec donates bits and pieces – and occasionally contributes to its pages. Without us, no one would know that John Porter’s parents were a tailor and a dressmaker respectively. It clearly likes racing, by the way – look up a Classic Race or a famous horse and check it out. It does a proper job.

It provides such a good service to so many millions of people that comparatively small donations would probably keep it afloat. Donec suggests that we do our bit. Click Wikipedia and the generous option is at your fingertips.

STARTS

1.35 AINTREE (3/12/16) Becher Chase. 22 horses crammed together in a great heaving heap, jogging and trotting round in those poisonous circles and getting more and more stressed.

Field heads for the starting gate and grinds to a halt. FALSE START. Whatever officialdom calls it, this was a false start. After a few moments of paralysis the so-called stationary start (another rubbish add-on) sent them on their way. Two fell at the first, two more at the second.

The reader will be aware that for five years Donec has been telling the BHA that incorrect starting procedures distract horses and cause falls at the early obstacles.

The BHA has plenty of problems at the moment, but eliminating starting procedures which create danger to life and limb for both horses and riders must be a top priority – especially as rectifying the situation could be achieved in a matter of a few days. How many fallers at obstacles one and two do we need before the BHA does its job?

Best wishes,

Andrew Simpson