VRWC

That would be the fifth Rugby World Cup of course, which is being played down here in Australia and has, I’ve noticed, generally escaped commentary in the blogosphere. But any game where France walk all over the U.S. can’t expect much love in the strongholds of blogging. Here at CT we have a strong representation from the Six Nations, though I don’t know how many of them (if any) are rugby fans. Here’s an update on what’s happening, including details of how the left-wing solidarity of Crooked Timber might be overwhelmed by the false gods of Nationalism.

Chris, Tom and Micah are English. I know Chris is, anyway. Sincere apologies to Tom and Micah if I’m wrong about them. (Sincere apologies if I’m right, too.) England’s rugby team is very good these days, for several reasons. They pioneered the professionalization of rugby in the northern hemisphere, they have perfected a style of forward play that is difficult to defend against, and they like to have more players than allowed on the pitch whenever they feel they are in danger of losing a match.

I believe Daniel is Welsh. Wales were seeded much too high coming into the tournament, had by far the easiest qualifying group of any of the traditional rugby-playing countries and are still managing to make pretty heavy weather of it. The typical tone of Daniel’s posts may be explained by his being from a once proud rugby-playing nation that has now gone to seed altogether. Interestingly, Wales’s decline as a force in rugby coincides with the refurbishment and expansion of Cardiff Arms Park in the 1990s. A clear case of investment in infrastructure that would have been better spent on human capital.

To my knowledge, no-one at CT is Scottish. Given how they’re playing, that’s probably just as well.

Henry is Irish. So is Maria. And so am I. I never actually played rugby at school, because I’m from the wrong class fraction (there’s a means test). The Farrells are better bred than the Healys so Henry probably did. Anyway, having scraped past Argentina, we’re into the quarter finals. The Pumas made their best effort to stop us, which is to say that they eye-gouged two of our forwards towards the end of the game. Eye-gouging was perfected in Buenos Aires in the 1970s, which shouldn’t surprise anyone.

The general inference is true, by the way: A country’s favored form of illegal play in rugby mirrors the favored pattern of political repression. Argentina’s is all hidden in the scrum, with opposing players found on the ground mysteriously bleeding from the eyes once play has moved on. South Africa are much more up front about things, preferring just to hit you where everyone can see. England, as noted above, invent the rules that everyone must play by (except England).

Maria is Irish but lives in Paris. The French are a great team, capable of quite incredible things, if it’s the right day of the week. Unfortunately, there is no good rule for establishing what the right day of the week is.

Brian is Australian. Australia are the defending champions. Tomorrow, Ireland play them in the final game before the knockout stage starts. If Ireland win, we’ll play Scotland or Fiji in the quarter finals instead of France. Ireland specialise in glorious defeats and moral victories. But we also have a good line in underdog upsets, so I think we’re in with a shot.