Australian rugby fans are well aware of the challenges that rugby union faces. Professionalism, viewership numbers and finding an alternative to Bernard Foley are struggles not only affecting the game in Australia, but also right across the world. Ok, maybe except the Bernard Foley thing.
However, Geoff Parkes has a bit of good news for us all: it’s out of our hands.
In his new book, World in Conflict: The Global Battle for Rugby Supremacy, Geoff, like Indiana Jones raiding an Amazonian temple, ducks and weaves through a gauntlet of trials to deliver the blame at French and English clubs’ doors.
Except, well, it’s not that simple. It’s all a natural occurrence.
The English and French clubs have all the money, all the attendances, the population density, the economy, the television audience, and infrastructure, and they’re using all of that to win as many rugby games as possible.
At the cost of that, is a lot. National teams, global seasons, player welfare – especially that of Pacific Islander players, and much more are being affected by the growing disparity in the two heavyweights.
I know Geoff, and am writing this review, after meeting him at a Roar Christmas Party. I distinctly remember explaining to him the benefits of rugby, as we were watching Papua New Guinea play Chile at the Hong Kong 7s. How often to people from those two countries come together? Not often.
Geoff, similarly, has travelled all over the globe to scrounge his stories.
The likes of ex-Lions (now Gloucester) coach Johan Ackermann, NZRU Chief Steve Tew, Clermont Auvergne Director of Rugby Neil McIlroy, and International Rugby Players Association CEO Rob Nichol are all interviewed in this book, and sprinkled around those interviews are little jaunts into the backstory.
My favourite one is about Clermont Auvergne. The French club was founded and still is owned by tyre manufacturer Michelin, who opened their first factory in the very same town. The team play in Stade Marcel Michelin, and have only ever had chairmen who have also been chairmen of the tyre makers.
There is really no Australian rugby equivalent to Clermont-Auvergne. Passages like this go a long way in explaining, at once, the connection French rugby fans have to their clubs and their strong-headed refusal to bend to World Rugby’s will. It also sort of explains why the French team is so crap.
All in all, World in Conflict: The Global Battle for Rugby Supremacy is in-depth, comprehensive book, that at no time every strays into being too detailed. There’s only like three graphs in the entire thing.
It has everything. Reproduce this book out loud and you’d be the smartest person in the room. Or, buy a copy and send it to Raelene Castle…
World in Conflict: The Global Battle for Rugby Supremacy is written by Geoff Parkes and published by Australian eBook publisher. It can be found at Google Play, iBookstore, Kobo and on Kindle. Or if that’s you’re thing you can get it printed and delivered to your house. Visit geoffparkes.com for more info.
