D'Arcy Waldegrave: Bravo Horowhenua Kapiti Rugby Football Union

Bravo Horowhenua Kapiti Rugby Football Union.   

The union, along with the full support of all concerned parties, have taken a stand against the scourge of the game. In fact, the scourge of sport full stop.  

The unprecedented step of postponing an entire weekend of rugby, across all grades, is a case of the mouse that roared. This little provincial union, based in Levin, has acted on a promise, has backed up a threat, has drawn a line in the sand.   

Tired of the increasing rhetoric of rage emanating from the sideline, they have made a stand. Not on my watch. Not on our sidelines. Not in front of our children.   

It may seem like taking a gun to a knife fight, an overreaction to a small number of ferals who choose to behave like animals, but it’s not. It’s the act of a union who has the moral strength to attempt to bring a narrative of respect and decency back to our national game.   

This weekend, hundreds of players will hit pause on their season because of the actions of a few. This will eventually, I believe, trigger a groundswell of fans of the game, who will no longer tolerate the actions of a few.   

This is not a ‘thoughts and prayers’ moment. This is a small voice that has been heard all over the country, that I’d hope will embolden other unions to follow suit.   

For one person to stand up to a sideline goon is difficult, but when many take the same stand, the power will be transferred from the transgressor to the greater good.   

The regrettable part of this is not that it must happen, which is a sad indictment on sporting fandom, but that it has been pioneered by a small union in the heartland.  

Horowhenua Kapiti RFU shouldn’t have to take the weight of this on their shoulders, this is not their issue.  NZR is the custodian of the game, they are the wheelhouse, this is their responsibility. It’s a black mark on their organisation that this boil must be lanced by a small union, not by the people charged with running the game.  

HKRFU wrote in their release, the standard you walk past is the standard you accept. As a nation of sports fans, we must no longer accept the misguided rage from the sideline.  

Surely we’re better than that. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the All Sport Breakfast podcast with Darcy
Waldgrave from News Talk SEDB seven thirty.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
One The All Sport Breakfast an interesting week of sporting
action off the field, Bravo HOTOFANUA coupity Rugby Football Union.
The Union, along with the full support of all concerned parties,
taken a stand against the scourge of the game, in fact,
the scourge of sport full stop. The unprecedented step of

(00:34):
postponing a tire weekend of rugby across all grades is
a case of the mouse that roared. This little provincial
union based in Livin has acted on a promise, is
backed up a threat, has drawn a line in the sand.
Tired of the increasing rhetoric of rage emanating from the sideline,
They've made a stand. Not on my watch, not on

(00:56):
our sidelines, not in front of our children. It may
seem like taking a gun to a knife fight, an
overreaction to the small number of fair who choose to
behave like animals, but it's not. It's the act of
a union who has the moral strength to attempt to
bring a narrative of respect and decency back to our

(01:18):
national game. This weekend hundreds of players will pause on
this season because of the actions of a few. This
will eventually, I believe, trigger a groundswell of fans of
the game that will no longer tolerate the actions of
a few. This is not a thoughts and prayers moment.
This is a small voice that has been heard all
over the country that I'd hope will embolden other unions

(01:42):
to follow suit. For one person to stand up to
a sideline goon is difficult, but when many take the
same stand, the power will be transferred from the transgressor
to the greater good. The regrettable part of this is
not that it must happen it's a sad indictment non
sporting fandom, but that it has been pioneered by a

(02:02):
small union in the heartland of But if you shouldn't
have to take the weight of this on their shoulders.
This is not their issue. New Zealand Rugby is the
custodian of the game. Here. They are the wheelhouse. This
is their responsibility. It's a black mart on bear organization
that this boil has to be launched by a small union,

(02:25):
not by the people charged with running the game. Here
and I quote from the press release from hotopnur Carpety
Rugby Football Union. The standard you walk past is the
standard you accept. Bravo, you guys, Bravo and that'll do.

Speaker 1 (02:47):
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