This has been an
issue for quite some time. It raised its ugly head a few years back and has continued to worm it's way into the lives
of those who live for rugby, racial slurs, player abuse and booing have become
the epicentre surrounding those who allegedly label themselves "real
fans". Professional rugby players
are so called because they get paid to play rugby, at the end of the day it is
their job, yet if they make a slip up people make it their business to harass,
name call, abuse and annoy the player.
Put it into context, if you made an error in work you
may get a small slap on the hand from the boss but you certainly don't have to
put up with abuse from thousands of irate twitter trolls who think they'll get
a reaction from calling someone a disgusting name.
One could argue that they are in limelight and
shouldn't set up a Facebook or Twitter account if they don't want themselves
open to such abuse, but they are normal people who do their job the same as
everyone else, with sport there will always be highs and lows and that is the
beauty of rugby, the unpredictability of it is what makes us sit on the edge of
our seats in wonder and awe at how a game can have a complete turnover within
the dying seconds of the ticking clock.
A handling error
by Jamie Heaslip in the dying seconds against Northampton certainly did not
warrant a barrage of abuse, and in most circumstances, from his own
"fans". The language used is not one to be repeated but calling
someone "fat", "slow" and "useless" while you
have your own derrière parked on your own couch is cowardly, if you think that
about a player, why not address him face to face and have your say?
With the majority of people signed up to at least one
social networking site, it is now easier to have access to a player than ever
before and for some they see this as a safety net for their abuse. You would
have to have been living underground this Summer not to have witnessed
"BODgate" when Brian O'Driscoll was dropped by Lions coach Warren
Gatland for the third test during the Lions Tour. Within seconds of this news
hitting the fans, a media frenzy ensued; the storm in a teacup became well and
truly stirred and blown out of proportion, with a whirlwind of abuse against
both O'Driscoll and Gatland.
For some fans, they expressed their sadness for
O'Driscoll because in their eyes they witnessed a legend at his lowest point
but others took it that step further, abusive and racial comments were thrown
about between nations, nations that were supposedly united as one were now
fighting like teenage girls over who the best looking One Direction boy is,
this didn't just include the fans, pundits had their fair share to say too.
Irish fans not only set upon Gatland with threats but
also decided to have a go at Jonathan Davis by threatening to break his legs,
an innocent bystander whose only crime was being given the number thirteen
jersey. Welsh fans were not so innocent either, recently O'Driscoll made light
of the fiasco in a tweet after Mirror Football had tweeted that he'd been
sacked as manager of Bristol football club, Brian retorted with "Next
thing I know I won't be playing for Wales against Australia this weekend!"
Some saw the funny side of this as it was the same week that Ireland had lost
to New Zealand and Brian picked fun at the fact that his week couldn't get any
worse, it may have even been a jibe at the media, however for others though
they saw this as a smart comment, it may well have been but it did not warrant
one welsh fan tweeting O'Driscoll and calling him a "bitterc**t", a
d**k and a c**k but when challenged by other twitter users, he retracted back
into his shell saying he thought O'Driscoll was a legend. As individuals we are
entitled to an opinion but hurtful language is not an opinion, it's abuse.
It is not just social networks were these plastic fans
cultivate. The Leinster Vs Northampton Saints at the Aviva Stadium on the 14th
December 2013 brought out the worst of them. One cannot accuse the Leinster
fans for booing because a real Leinster fan stays quiet and respectful when the
opposition's kicker is going for the posts, a real Leinster fan does not goad
his/her own players while they fight for 80 minutes against a team who are
hungry to save face and restore pride after a gruelling defeat the previous
week, and a real Leinster fan does not abuse the referee, some calls may not
have been the most appropriate but to win a match you must put that aside and
up your game. These fans are quite literally "Event" fans, as in,
they show up at bigger matches or finals and reap the rewards that Leinster
give them and if Leinster lose they see it fit to throw abuse at players and
management, after all, they didn't pay "€75 a ticket to watch a load of
sh*te and should have stayed at home!" So why didn't you then?? Real fans
pay up to and over €420 for a season ticket, they sit in the freezing cold
clutching a hot cup of coffee screaming on the lads, they celebrate every try
as if it were a cup final and they never leave before the final whistle.
This has only touched the tip of the iceberg but for
every Twitter troll or plastic fan out there, there are ten real fans who see a
match day as a family day out, a chance to welcome visitors from other parts of
the globe and show them hospitality, sport is there to be enjoyed, with the
fans of both teams respecting each other and having respect for those who are
putting their bodies on the line playing week in week out for their team, to
put it simply by quoting a famous Welsh referee
"This is not soccer".
