In the time before the 20-minute red card was enshrined in law, the sport lived in a reasonably stable environment. I’ve written before about this obsession with reshaping rugby into something it isn’t, solely to attract people who may or may not exist. We tend to produce hybrid props, excellent rugby players, technically sound around the field, but without the same number of scrummaging miles as their counterparts in South Africa, France or England. Back to Europe, the only thing the EPCR (European Professional Club Rugby) can truly control is the brief given to referees. Photograph: Billy Stickland/InphoFrom a player’s point of view, there are maybe six meaningful matches between now and the Six Nations squad announcement.
