By Graham Thomas
Steve Diamond is not everyone’s cup of tea, but the English rugby coach often stirs interest along with his two sugars.
Diamond is a gruff northerner, who is about as removed from Twickenham – both socially and geographically – as you can get, now that he is employed by Newcastle Falcons rather than Sale Sharks.
This week he suggested one of the big problems with English rugby – and he could just as easily have been talking about the game in Wales – is a lack of superstars.
England used to have plenty, not just the likes of Jonny Wilkinson and others who won the World Cup, but headline-grabbers off the field, such as Danny Cipriani.
At the same time Cipriani was emerging as someone who could mix sport and celebrity, Gavin Henson was winding down his own career in Wales after doing much the same.
Cyhoeddiad Tîm | Team Announcement ⚔️
Our Scarlets team to face @ospreys_official on Saturday at https://t.co/3vg6RJYsSX stadium
BKT URC Round 8
⏰ 17:15Tîm y Scarlets i wynebu’r Gweilch ar ddydd Sadwrn yn Stadiwm https://t.co/3vg6RJYsSX #OSPvSCA #BKTURC pic.twitter.com/UK9Men0JOo
— Scarlets Rugby (@scarlets_rugby) December 20, 2024
Since then, it’s been meagre pickings on the superstar index.
Yes, the likes of Alun Wyn Jones have achieved legendary status for his deeds on the field, Sam Warburton was a Grand Slam winner and Lions captain, and the likes of George North, Leigh Halfpenny, Dan Biggar and Taulupe Faletau were often national heroes.
But superstars? Figures of broad media interest that reached above and beyond the game itself? Not so much.
Louis Rees-Zammit was perhaps on the road towards that kind of fame, but it was a more carefully-crafted, manufactured positioning rather than something more genuine.
Either way, the former Wales wing’s decision to leave rugby for the NFL is a work in progress, with plenty of headroom – both on and off the field.
This weekend, the Ospreys host the Scarlets in a derby fixture that used to spark plenty of interest, particularly in the pre-regional era of Swansea v Llanelli.
Here is the @ospreys 2️⃣3️⃣ for their big West Wales derby clash Scarlets tomorrow evening!
Still time to get your tickets for what will be a cracker in Swansea
️ https://t.co/4hRFSudA0f https://t.co/L4oY0O8tvw
— Welsh Rugby Union (@WelshRugbyUnion) December 20, 2024
There would be spats and slights in the build-up, wind-ups and put-downs, predictions and counter-claims.
In the red corner, Leigh Davies once accused Scott Gibbs and his white-clad opponents of cheap shots in previous derbies.
Gibbs responded by simply saying, “Yeah . . . and there’s more coming your way on Saturday.”
It was theatrical, gladiatorial, and all helped oil the wheels of the mad machinery of Welsh rugby.
This week, if you hadn’t noticed the fixture list, it might have been difficult to know that this fierce rivalry was being resumed.
The lack of success by the four Welsh professional teams may have resulted in lesser media interest, but even if today’s players are asked to spice things up, they seem incapable of doing it.
It is the bland, leading the bland.
The Ospreys have changed their head coach in the build-up this week – dumping Toby Booth and promoting Mark Jones – but even that seems not to have enlivened things.
The match itself could turn out to be full-bodied, full-throttle 100 mph belter, but that will be in spite of the stuff swirling around it, rather than because of it.
No games this weekend. Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered!
We’ll be shown the Ospreys v Scarlets across all the big screens. We also have a Christmas treat for our members!!! See you there!!! pic.twitter.com/bNFeZaDdYC
— Seven Sisters RFC (@SevenSistersRFC) December 18, 2024
When rugby went professional almost 30 years ago, there was an attitude of snooty superiority among officials and administrators towards other sports that had turned pro decades before.
It was claimed rugby had nothing to learn from football, which was considered to have been ruined by money rather than improved.
Yet, it is Premier League football that knows what rugby appears to have forgotten – that passionate madness in a sport is as necessary as oxygen and without it a sport will die.
The Premier League is an endless soap opera of insanity, from ranting managers to feuding players with feuding girlfriends, it’s a circus that never leaves town.
Even darts – a sport where the competitors stand still and move only one arm – will eclipse rugby over the festive period because they know how to put on a show, how to turn unlikely athletes into superstars.
The crazed atmosphere at Ally Pally during the PDC World Championship over the next few days will make most rugby matches look very pale by comparison.
Diamond was not yearning after the good old days when he spoke about how much he missed the colour brought by his old Sale star, Cipriani.
He was trying to suggest a blueprint for rugby’s future.
