Rugby's failure to reach calendar consensus is warning of bleak future

No one could ever accuse rugby union of rushing into big decisions. It is 25 years and counting since the sport was effectively ushered into a new professional era and still the arguments continue regarding how it should ideally look. Monday’s global calendar forum – the word summit was studiously avoided – was never going to solve everything overnight.

At least all the various factions were mostly represented, sticking up for what they insist they believe in. You could fill an empty lake bed with the multiple leaks from various sources over recent weeks, few of whom – sadly – will repeat in public what they mutter in private. My favourite to date came from a leading figure about a harassed senior official in a different organisation: “He’s like Harvey Keitel in Pulp Fiction. He’s trying to mop up every mess there is.”

Fear and loathing: perhaps it has always been rugby union’s default setting. That, in itself, is not a problem. Rugby’s various imperfections are an intrinsic part of the sport’s appeal. It has never particularly aspired to the sleek image of a supermodel gliding down a catwalk in Saint-Tropez (apart from David Flatman, obviously). Instinctively it is still happiest in the saloon bar, telling everyone within earshot where things are going wrong

If there is a cinematic comparison to be made it is probably Mad Max: big in the southern hemisphere, forever battling against unscrupulous foes and constantly jealous of the inexhaustible supply of gasoline at football’s disposal. Every man – or club - for himself, let the devil take the hindmost. What it has never been brilliant at doing is precisely what is now required: making unselfish concessions for the greater good.

Take Paul Goze, representing French clubs. There is plenty of Monsieur Goze but there is still not a fibre in his considerable frame that encourages compromise. The rest of the world needs to think again, he insists, because French people go on holiday in August. Says the man whose own domestic league already begins in – let’s see – August.

The upshot, inevitably, was that Monday’s virtual gathering of the clans agreed only to talk further. The brutal truth of the matter, however, is that if rugby’s various strands do not unite now, with the ramifications of Covid-19 threatening so many livelihoods, they never will. Can people not see that if, say, the English club owners, players and league administrators all pull in different directions that things will eventually collapse? Do certain unions not realise that, regardless of how much wealth they can individually accumulate, they still need solvent opponents to help them fill their stadiums? Or that, ultimately, healthy and motivated players are the key to everything else?

In fairness there are numerous questions upon which total agreement may never be reached. Are players paid too much or not enough? Is the game too complicated or too dumbed down? Are the right people in charge or would someone else do a better job? Is the season too long or too short? Should it be played primarily in good weather or bad? Are there too many players on the field or too few referees? And, while we’re at it, why on earth is Sweet Caroline played on a loop at every major sporting venue? When rugby made its long-awaited return in New Zealand at the weekend, you just knew what was coming.

But hold on: this is supposed to be a piece about embracing consensus, Neil Diamond included. How about this as a starting point: write down either the 15 best things about rugby union or the reasons you felt drawn to the game in the first place. For me it would read something like this: character, camaraderie, fun, fair play, the shape of the ball, the H-shaped posts, access for all body shapes, physical bravery, speed of thought, deft hands, spiralling torpedo punts, touchline conversions, sheer pace, beer, touring.

Now, for balance, write down the 15 things you most dislike. I’ll go for: cheating, whingeing, gouging, lack of space, avoidable injuries, prejudice, innate conservatism, parochial administrators, crooked feeds, rubbish kit, media training, thick mud, aimless kicking, blinkered tactics, blaming the referee.

Feels better, doesn’t it? And now, if we boiled down our respective lists to a top three in each category, we would already be starting to get somewhere. Within a few minutes a trained counsellor could have highlighted the common ground, the main stumbling blocks and the areas that really matter to the majority. At which point it might start to dawn that, in these times of widespread disruption, political posturing benefits no one. “There has to be a sense of trust,” one chief executive told me the other day. “Where is rugby going in five years’ time. What are the projections? Those have to be shared in a really mature way.” May the next summit – sorry, forum – be the one to deliver the holy grail.