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"Behave as if your mother was with you" - Welsh Police Commissioner

By RugbyPass
Wales’ Principality Stadium

A Welsh police commissioner has said a ban on alcohol at sporting events could be the future, following reports of anti-social behaviour during the recent Wales and New Zealand game at the Principality Stadium.

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Alun Michael made the comments after fans and a policeman spoke up about a number of issues arising from the match. The Welsh Rugby Union also confirmed they are investigating after a disabled man was verbally abused.

Beth Fisher, a current BBC journalist, was at the match with her uncle, who has short arms caused by thalidomide, said he was subjected to “a tirade of foul language” after asking a group to stop blocking the view of Saturday’s match.

Another spectator, Sean O’Donoghue, said that language being used was a big problem and fans could not see the game with the amount of people getting up and down to buy alcohol.

Speaking to BBC Radio Wales’ Good Morning Wales show, South Wales Police and Crime Commissioner Mr Michael stated, “if we have people continually behaving unpleasantly, aggressively and rudely then you are going to see an increase in the calls for alcohol to be banned at games.

“But the plea should be let’s all understand how to behave, let’s stop behaving in that bad way which puts at risk the enjoyment of many thousands of other people, and, in particular, let’s encourage people not to preload and not to arrive at the event having drunk too much.”

He also called on rugby fans to behave in a manner “as if your mother was with you”.

Chief Insp Mark Cleland, from British Transport Police, was also highly critical of “drunken violent behaviour” shown by some spectators, tweeting that the “drunken culture” of rugby and other sports has “remained largely the same”.

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Bull Shark 34 minutes ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

Of the rugby I’ve born witness to in my lifetime - 1990 to date - I recognize great players throughout those years. But I have no doubt the game and the players are on average better today. So I doubt going back further is going to prove me wrong. The technical components of the game, set pieces, scrums, kicks, kicks at goal. And in general tactics employed are far more efficient, accurate and polished. Professional athletes that have invested countless hours on being accurate. There is one nation though that may be fairly competitive in any era - and that for me is the all blacks. And New Zealand players in general. NZ produces startling athletes who have fantastic ball skills. And then the odd phenomenon like Brooke. Lomu. Mcaw. Carter. Better than comparing players and teams across eras - I’ve often had this thought - that it would be very interesting to have a version of the game that is closer to its original form. What would the game look like today if the rules were rolled back. Not rules that promote safety obviously - but rules like: - a try being worth 1 point and conversion 2 points. Hence the term “try”. Earning a try at goals. Would we see more attacking play? - no lifting in the lineouts. - rucks and break down laws in general. They looked like wrestling matches in bygone eras. I wonder what a game applying 1995 rules would look like with modern players. It may be a daft exercise, but it would make for an interesting spectacle celebrating “purer” forms of the game that roll back the rules dramatically by a few versions. Would we come to learn that some of the rules/combinations of the rules we see today have actually made the game less attractive? I’d love to see an exhibition match like that.

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