Even without spectators, sport is 2020’s saving grace
Covid isn’t going away any time soon and a vaccine is still months off. Confinement, if not an absolute nationwide lockdown, is the rule for most of us. Frustration, boredom and irritation are emotions shared by millions.
Still, those of us who are sports fans should count our blessings. Whatever the financial consequences of the virus for clubs and national unions, the fact that matches are being played and shown on TV, even without spectators in the grounds, is probably keeping a good many of us more or less sane.
Last weekend, the 2019-20 rugby season finally finished with a glorious Heineken Champions Cup final between Exeter Chiefs and Racing92. I confess that a few months ago, viewing the prospect of fixture congestion, I was rather in favour of drawing a line under the season so cruelly interrupted back in March. Last Saturday’s match in Bristol proved me wrong. If cup finals are sometimes edgy affairs with both teams reluctant to take risks and play adventurous rugby, preferring to rely on opposition mistakes instead, this game was very different. It was a credit to two outstanding teams and a real treat.
Now we come to what is the second to last weekend of last season’s Six Nations with Ireland playing Italy in Dublin. The following week sees the tournament come to an end, with England playing Italy in Rome; France hosting Ireland in Paris, and Wales entertaining Scotland in the Parc y Scarlets in Llanelli, the Principality stadium temporarily unavailable, having been converted into a Nightingale Hospital. Scotland haven’t won in Wales since 2002, but they can take heart from the thought that they have never lost an international in Llanelli, only, as a Welshman might quickly point out because they have never played one there.
In Paris this evening there is also what might be described as a friendly or warm-up match between France and Wales in which Alun Wyn Jones will match Richie McCaw’s record of 148 international caps, an astonishing achievement. Nine of his caps were for the Lions; this will only his 139th for Wales. It’s all the more remarkable to my mind because three years ago when Wales lost at Murrayfield, he looked as if his day was coming to a close. Of course, all records are broken nowadays. This is partly because careers in the professional game are often, even usually, longer than they were in the amateur days, partly because so much more international rugby is now played.
Many would still name Gareth Edwards – Sir Gareth now – as the greatest Welsh player we ever watched. He got 53 Welsh caps in the years 1967-78 and 10 for the Lions. We used to reckon that anyone who had played twenty times for his country was, or must have been, pretty good. Now a chap can get that number of caps without ever playing the full 80 minutes of a match. Indeed, you probably don’t need all your fingers to count the number of front-row forwards who have ever played an international from kick-off to no-side.
As things stand, England and France both have 13 points from four matches., Scotland have 10 from four, Ireland 9 from three, Wales and Italy are out of contention. England must just be favourites. Their last match is against Italy in Rome, and, despite being away from home, Eddie Jones will be more than disappointed – he’ll be seriously displeased – if they don’t come away with a bonus point victory. In theory Ireland can win the title with bonus points victories in Dublin today and against France in Paris next week. France can win it if they beat Ireland with a bonus point and England fail to get a bonus point in Rome. Mathematically, Scotland can be champions if everything goes their way: if they secure a bonus point win in Llanelli and England, France and Ireland all lose a match. This is extremely unlikely. One applecart would be upset if Italy should do something they have never done and win in Dublin today.
Meanwhile, this week’s results in the first round of football’s Champions League went pretty well for English clubs. None of them lost, though Chelsea will surely be kicking themselves for having been held to a scoreless draw at home to Seville. Away wins are not as rare in the Champions League as they used to be, though, the common wisdom is that you have to win your home matches. Manchester City did just that beating FC Porto 4-1, but the best start was made by Liverpool winning away to Ajax, and Manchester United who beat Paris Saint Germain (PSG) 2-1 in Paris. Given the rocky start that both Manchester clubs have made in the Premiership, this was very satisfactory. It should have brought smiles to a good many faces in locked-downed Manchester.
As I say, we should count ourselves lucky that so much sport is being played. It has required much scrupulous organization and a fair measure of self-denial by players, coaches and staff to make this possible. Sadly, it looks as if games will continue to be staged in empty grounds. The prospect of the authorities permitting the return of even a limited number of spectators any time soon looks remote. It’s not, as far as I understand it, so much the problem of social distancing within stadiums, as the difficulty of getting fans to and from the grounds, often by public transport, without risk of spreading infection.
So, it’s probably TV sport for almost all of us through the autumn, over Christmas and well into the New Year. Well, we might have been deprived even of that. And you are not yet, it seems, required to wear a mask or abstain from liquor when you are settled at home in front of the TV. It’s a time to be grateful for small mercies.