Mark Durden-Smith’s and David Flatman’s blend of serious analysis and humour strikes the right note on Channel 5
Welcome back to the show. Only 3,500 people, carefully spread out around the Twickenham Stoop, will be allowed in to watch Harlequins play Bath this weekend but at least it is a start. For English rugby, and all who make a living from the game, the return of paying supporters is a time for tightly crossed fingers and cautious optimism that, financially, the worst might soon be over.
There is a bigger picture, too. Club rugby does not just have to woo back its traditional constituents and their all-important wallets. To pay the bills it also needs to entice more floating voters and, ideally, inflate its television viewing figures. Even a touchline pundit such as David Flatman, relentlessly teased from the cheap seats for his taste in jackets and generous front-rower’s physique, is relieved to see the punters back. “Fans do make a difference,” the former Bath and England prop says. “Without them there isn’t a game, there’s a full-contact training run.”
Written by Robert Kitson
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2020/sep/04/if-its-an-act-its-unsustainable-rugby-unions-answer-to-ant-and-dec under the title “
“. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
