Twickenham Homophobic Rugby Crowd
A section of the Twickenham rugby crowd has come in for criticism for allegedly hurling homophobic abuse at controversial Welsh referee Nigel Owens during the All Blacks' win over England last Sunday.
Owens, openly gay, has come in for widespread criticism for his performance in New Zealand's victory where he made several questionable calls and appeared to be influenced by repeated replays on the ground's video screens.
But it seems some of the criticism was far more personal and came while the game was being played at the famous London ground that will be headquarters for next year's World Cup.
The Guardian newspaper picked up on the issue today in a wider piece centred around the general boorish behaviour of the rugby crowd.
The respected newspaper received several letters following the match and rugby writer Robert Kitson used those as the basis of an article highlighting problems from the game's sidelines.
He noted the correspondence from South Yorkshire rugby fan Keith Wilson, who wrote: "As a lifelong rugby fan, a straight man in his 60s, I could not believe that a bunch of men half my age watching a rugby match in the 21st century could be capable of hurling such nasty, foul-mouthed, racist, homophobic abuse at an openly gay match official.
"My equally disgusted son is in his 30s but next to him, hearing this vitriol, was a little boy. I felt ashamed."
Wilson believed excessive alcohol was involved and suggested that "if it had been a football match they'd have been thrown out".
There was no suggesting of any investigations or actions from authorities with Twickenham set to host England's clash with the Springboks this weekend.
The paper also received complaints about the English attitude towards the All Blacks' haka that saw the massive Twickenham crowd signing Swing Low, Sweet Chariot over the top of the prematch ritual.
Their reaction to attempted goal kicks was also questioned.
Ross Anderson, a Kiwi living in High Wycombe, wasn't happy with the "82,000 unsporting yahoos who drowned the sound of the haka and booed the kickers".
Anderson said he had watched the game on TV, having given up going to Twickenham years ago "as I didn't like being surrounded by xenophobic yobs who knew little about rugby".
Kitson, himself, couldn’t resist a dig at the haka, noting that "virtually any kind of response to the haka, as we know, is a diplomatic minefield nowadays".
It used to be one of the sport's great sights but there are increasing signs of it being perceived outside New Zealand as an overblown pantomime-exhibit staged for self-serving reasons and, possibly, commercial advantage. Welcome to the era of the computer haka, performed with half an eye on the YouTube market," Kitson wrote.
But he was more concerned with the Twickenham reaction to Richie McCaw being awarded man of the match honours, with announcement greeted by boos.
"McCaw is a man who has shown extraordinary levels of fortitude and ranks up there with the greatest of all time," Kitson wrote.
"Should New Zealand happen to stumble out prior to the semifinals of next year's World Cup this will have been the last sighting of him in a test at Twickenham. It is a bit like booing Pelé late in his career."
In a country where football hooligans have regularly made headlines for all the wrong reasons, Kitson expressed disappointment at rugby's decline in a key area.
"Nowadays, rugby's right to the moral high ground is increasingly shaky, even with great men such as McCaw around. It might even be that umpteen referrals to the television match official is part of the problem, arousing more frustration than it solves and encouraging a climate of dissent among players and spectators alike.
“Refining the TMO system, however, is not the only thing the game's authorities must address between now and next year's Rugby World Cup," he finished.
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