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'When England won the World Cup in 2003, it was barely a footnote in my life, it wasn't an important factor at all'
Maro Itoje has claimed that rugby in England must do better to break out from its traditional recruitment grounds and expand its horizons to include other areas of society away from the private schools. Rugby’s ethnicity has come under scrutiny in recent weeks following the race protests that broke out in the United States following the death of George Floyd during an arrest in Minneapolis.
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Itoje, who is many peoples’ favourite to skipper the Lions on their 2021 tour to South Africa, now believes rugby must do more in black, Asian and minority ethnic communities in England if it truly wants to become an inclusive sport.
Having played in the World Cup final last November, Itoje was encouraged by how the make-up of the England team has changed in recent times compared 2003, a final that he didn’t notice as a nine-year-old growing up in London as rugby wasn’t generally a topic of conversation among the wider public at the time.
The English team 17 years ago had just a single non-white player, Jason Robinson, and while that situation had since improved, Itoje wants much more to done to evolve the sport even more in the years ahead. Speaking on the BBC Rugby Union Weekly podcast, the 25-year-old said: “In terms of reaching communities that rugby hasn’t reached before, it’s two-fold.
“Part of the reason why rugby hasn’t been able to do that is because they have a (private school) system and it seems to be going alright, they still produce quality players, they still produce a lot of successful teams. But you say rugby is an inclusive sport, the challenge is for it to be inclusive for all, not just inclusive for the people who fit the bill.
“What do I mean? The school you go to has a huge impact on the likelihood of success because what academies do is academies want to watch the best teams. If the best teams are private schools, the players from those private schools will then get put on the academy.
“That’s not to say it is impossible for people who go to state schools to make it. There are countless examples of individuals in state schools who can make it. But what the RFU and the PRL could do better is actually looking to include the whole of society, try and reduce the barriers of entry, try and take programmes out to these communities, programmes out to these schools who can’t maybe afford the funding or the coaching etc, etc to allow these kids who may not have experienced rugby the chance to see what rugby is all about.
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“To be honest, if we are going to be balanced there is also a different side to the coin. A lot of these people, a lot of these communities – I’m talking about black communities, I’m talking about Asian communities within the UK – rugby is not really a thing in their minds.
“If they are coming from the African continent, football is probably the sport they would be most associated with. If they are coming from Pakistan it would probably be cricket. What that means is that rugby to them is not a sport they are encouraging their children to go and play. It’s not a sport that they are having conversations with their children to go out and play.
“Even myself, I didn’t know what rugby was up until I was 11. I remember when England won the World Cup in 2003, it was barely a footnote in my life, it wasn’t an important factor in my life at all. Rugby has a bit of a harder job to attract those type of communities because those communities don’t have a history of the game, but it is definitely something that can be changed.
“To be fair it is moving in a positive direction. If you look at the squad in 2019 for the final a third of the team came from different backgrounds, communities etc, etc. Obviously, I want to be clear that selection should always be based on merit.
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“No one is looking for a hand-up or looking for an ethnicity selection. That’s not what we are saying, but what I am advocating for is for rugby to be more inclusive, be more integrated into the societies that it is not necessarily embedded in.”
ICYMI: Our Where Are They Now look at England's 2003 RWC winners reminded us of the important contrast Jason Robinson spotted between Eddie Jones' 2019 squad and Clive Woodward's Class of 2003 https://t.co/TTbQayamNL
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) April 18, 2020
Comments on RugbyPass
Good to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
16 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
7 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
16 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
4 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
4 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
26 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
16 Go to commentsTalking bout Ryan Crotty? Heard Crotty say in a interview once that SBW doesen't care about the team . He went on to say that whenever they lost a big game, SBW would be happy as if nothing happened, according to him someone who cares would look down.. Personally I think Crotty is in the wrong, not for feeling gutted but for expecting others 2 be like him… I have been a bad loser forever as it matters so much to me but good on you SBW for being able to see the bigger picture….
26 Go to commentsThis sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
16 Go to commentsThe rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
84 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
2 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
4 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
16 Go to comments9 Brumbies! What a joke! The best performing team in Oz! Ditch Skelton for Swain or Neville. Ryan Lonergan ahead of McDermott any day! Best selection bolter is Toole … amazing player
14 Go to commentsI like this, but ultimately rugby already has enough trophies. Trying to make more games “consequential" might prove to be a fools errand, although this is a less bad idea than some others. Minor quibble with the title of the article; it isn’t very meaningful to say the boks are the unofficial world champions when it would be functionally impossible for the Raeburn trophy not to be held by the world champions. There’s a period of a few months every 4 years when there is no “unofficial” world champion, and the Raeburn trophy is held by the actual world champions.
16 Go to comments