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'You could go a 1,000 years and never meet anyone as extraordinary'
BT Sport struck the perfect chord on Saturday when they launched live TV coverage of the new 2022/23 Gallagher Premiership season a day later than originally planned following the death on Thursday of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Negotiations resulted in the postponement of the season-opening matches at Bristol and Sale on Friday night.
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It meant attention instead switched to Sandy Park where the league’s main TV rights broadcast holders were in situ to deliver coverage of the Saturday afternoon meeting between Exeter Chiefs and title holders Leicester Tigers.
Presenter Craig Doyle kicked the new Premiership season footage off with a sombre introduction before former England internationals Lawrence Dallaglio and Ugo Monye joined in the tribute for Queen Elizabeth II. “We welcome you to the new term with heavy hearts,” began Doyle from the touchlines in Exeter. “We will bring you your rugby this weekend and we will do so respectfully.
“Everybody at BT Sport and of course in the league are extremely saddened by the passing of Her Majesty The Queen. Her dedication to the role, giving a lifetime of public service leaves the nation with an enormous debt of gratitude. Our sympathies are with the Royal family and of course to all of you that are grieving in your own way.
“There were a lot of conversations whether the sport should go ahead this weekend. The Premiership starts a day late. A lot of fans here, both Exeter Chiefs and Leicester fans – and I have spoken to many of them on their way in, have all said that this was their opportunity to pay their respect to the Queen in her passing. So I think we are going to have a very emotional day, a sombre day but in a strange way, they will celebrate her life in their own way.”
Dallaglio, a 2003 World Cup winner with England, would have met Queen Elizabeth II on numerous occasions over the years and what he had to say had a very personal touch. “It is a sad day, a sad time and I do feel, like the majority of the nation, a real sense of loss. This was an exceptional person, an exceptional human being who oversaw her country for 70 years. In most people’s lifetimes, she was a constant.
“Throughout all the upheavals, all the chaos, she was there. She led with great distinction. For all of us, she is the benchmark for how to lead people. You could go a thousand years and never meet anyone as extraordinary as the Queen, so our thoughts are with all of her family and those closest to her.
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“She loved her sport, not just horse racing,” he continued. “She loved all sport. She was patron of the Rugby Union (RFU) for 65 years and in that time we had a few high moments, none more so than in 2003 when we had the privilege of being in her company with the rest of the family and the team.
“Great sense of humour, a very inspiring lady and I’m sure everyone in the country really feels her loss. More than anything she represented unity and togetherness and today we will see that, not just here at Sandy Park but right across the country and even across the world.”
Next, it was the turn of Monye to chip in on the tribute. “Lawrence has just touched upon her personality, she is known for so many great personality traits but for me, the two distinctive things that stood out were her duty and her service and it feels like a privilege to be here to carry on with our duty under the banner of Premiership Rugby and have a full schedule of matches.
“As Lawrence mentioned, she loved her sport and today and the rest of the weekend is an unbelievable opportunity for people to get together, united, connected to something we haven’t been able to say I don’t think we have been able to say too often over the last few years as a rugby community to support our teams but more so than anything show our respect.
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“We will sing the national anthem today and I don’t think you will hear a more impassioned version of it than what we hear at Sandy Park and right across the Premiership this weekend. Massive respect to the person that she is, the legacy lives on and we hope today we can do it a little bit of justice.”
Comments on RugbyPass
I don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
4 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
24 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
24 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood 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.
24 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.
9 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.
24 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?
9 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.
9 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.
28 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 🤐
24 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….
28 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….
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