The Sad Decline of Barbarian Rugby

Barbarians…one of the more glowing of the reports on the performance of the Barbarians following their recent match against the British Lions in Hong Kong insisted, ”The Barbarians simply had to soak up the heat. They had a shape of sorts, but were smashed up front, penalised almost out of scrimmage  existence, had no momentum or continuity….”Hardly fitting words for a team which has graced the rugby union world with an authority and class for many years and a team which has done so much to promote all that’s best about the 15 a side code. Indeed such was the onesidedness of the game that the spectators were more interested in singing “Delilah”, performing Mexican Waves, and ensuring that they waved or smiled at friends back home  whenever the TV cameras chanced to capture any on screen.

Sadly despite the earnest and promising efforts of the Lions the game was a total mismatch and resulted in a well paid “jolly” for those in a Barbarians jersey. But please don’t blame the Ba-Bas’ management, coaches, or players because the problem simply is that the professional game has sadly left the original concept of the Barbarians club way behind and, despite all the efforts of a still ambitious management, they are no longer able to play the dominant role of fostering rugby union at the highest levels as they once did.

When I was first selected to play for the Barbarians I had not then worn an England jersey but I knew that the reason for my selection was that I was being considered for a first England cap.There were others like me in the side who needed to impress at the highest levels and who were being tested to see if they could handle the game at the highest levels.Hence it was probably the most important match of my then short rugby union career and of many of my team mates. Everyone in the land and abroad who was available for selection needed to impress.

Not so today, for the demands of the professional era, the many leagues scattered worldwide, and the vast number of calls for international duty ensure that so few players are, at any one time, available for selection for the Barbarians. And, when such selections are made, no guest side, hurriedly thrown together for a few days before kick off, can match the intensity and cohesion needed to trouble the quality of opposition usually matched against them.

Sadly the Barbarians, through no fault of their own, are no longer able to produce the stylish rugby and thrilling competitive entertainment for which they were once so famed. The concept is a victim of the professionalizing of the code and, unfortunately, is an anachronism within rugby union at the highest levels. The Barbarians must have a contribution to make to the well being and future of rugby union but it must be a different one to that of the past and one which its players, coaches, and management are struggling to maintain.  

Ray French

June 2013