BEER, MORE IMPORTANT THAN RUGBY

It may be prudent for those amongst us who have concerns over environmental issues to thank the English rugby team for loosing the world cup on Saturday. Sundays Telegraph devoted 7 full pages to the game, including a full colour front page. If we had won, I suspect the coverage would have resulted in a whole rainforest being felled in order to cater for the media paper scrum that would have ensued.

Sarcasm to one side, the team played with dignity, pride and commitment, something footballers no longer consider a part of the game. Whilst all papers have given full coverage to the game, it is the Telegraph which offers a slightly different perspective. Consider the following points:

1. The only beer on sale in the Stade de France on the night was alcohol free. 250,000 pints at £6.50 a sip were sold. No arrests in the Stadium were reported.
2. A Cornish rugby fan was persuaded to part with his ticket for the final in return for a life time’s supply of beer. Some things are clearly still more important than the game.
3. Sales of champagne have been reported as rising by 71%, a direct result of England being in the final.
4. England coach Brian Ashton uses a Muhammad Ali quote to inspire the England team. “Defy the impossible and shock the world” is the phrase he propagated, somewhat better that his counter part Steve McClaren, who uses the dictate “Just turn out and collect your cheque at the end of 90 minutes. If you could win, that would be an added advantage.”
5. South Africa’s rugby tops have a magnetic strip in them which increase blood flow and acts like a steroid. Wow! Legalised drug taking.
6. Eurostar for once was fully booked, sales up by 40%. So there you have it, every 4 years Euro Star breaks even for 30 minutes.