"Football is not a matter of life and death, it is more important than that."
Beware of the Dog
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Brian Moore, Simon and Schuster, London, 2010. ISBN 978-1-84737-554-4
I have never met Brian Moore but I have cross-swords with him. When Neil Back won the 2001 Heineken Cup for Leicester by illegally knocking the ball out of the Munster scrum half’s hands, I was invited to comment on the ethics of the incident on BBC Five Live. I said that the incident was bad for sport. Brian was also on the programme and he argued that such incidents were part of professional sport and you had to do what was necessary to win.
I read his autobiography with greater interest. I was not disappointed. As well as an outstanding rugby player, Brian Moore is a human being whose live has not been easy. Given up for adoption as a baby, he writes poignantly about tracing his mother and meeting her for the first time while in his thirties.
The prologue of the book describes instances of sexual abuse while on school trip, which was his secret for years. Possibly arising from these childhood complications, he admits to a dark side of his character which he calls “Gollum”. Gollum appears regularly in his story, belittling him and undermining his achievements and self confidence.
What comes out constantly in his story is his will to win and his ruthless determination to succeed in rugby. From 1984 onwards, he acknowledges, “every decision I made in my life first took into consideration what effect it would have on my rugby career. This was to be my absolute priority. The single-mindedness I showed from that point on would help me achieve things in rugby that I previously never allowed myself to dream of, but it would also come at a price”. (Page 94).
When he plays in the 1991 Rugby World Cup and loses, he throws his medal in the Thames as it reminds him of losing.
He had set his heart on becoming a barrister. At interview he is about to be offered the position if he will agree not to seek to play rugby at a higher level than Nottingham. He cannot accept the condition, becomes a solicitor and plays rugby for England.
Confrontations were always personal. When he was selected for the Lions, he sees the other hooker in the squad, not as a team-mate but as a rival and a rival he will conquer.
He charts the changes in approach to elite rugby from the point where “you were the object of ridicule, if you didn’t drink vast quantities” (Page 98) to an admission that pre-Lions tour 1989 and pre-World Cup 1991 he “did not drink at all for six months”. ( Page 124).
There is a fascinating chapter on the demise of the scrum (301-310) which describes in detail what happens in the scrum. Earlier he describes an incident on a Lions tour where the Queensland hooker, Mark McBain, was deliberately collapsing the scrum.
Moore describes in a very matter-of-fact way what happened: “ I quickly realised this was a purposeful act and, when the referee refused to act, despite my informing him reasonably clearly, I took Bob Norster aside and told him that if this happened again he was to kick McBain. It did, so he did. At one point McBain’s head was festooned with cuts, of which much was made post-match. When he complained, I told him that it was simple: if he stopped collapsing, we would stop kicking him. He didn’t, so we didn’t. I was, and am, unapologetic about instructing Norster to react in that way. Scrummaging is a difficult and dangerous pastime without deliberate and repeated collapsing, done merely to prevent embarrassment. To anybody who finds my attitude unacceptable: sorry, I do not think I should repeatedly risk serious injury and not take preventative measures, particularly when officials refuse to resolve the issue. You can say that I should not have taken the law into my own hands. You can say that ad infinitum. It was my neck, not yours. (Page 135).
He discusses openly what level of violence is acceptable – gouging and biting are not. Punching and rucking/kicking someone who is on the wrong side of the ball is part of the game.
The challenge of playing elite rugby as an amateur is well illustrated by an incident in 1993. Moore is with the England team preparing to play New Zealand. On the Thursday he realizes that an important case he is working on in his law firm will be lost if witness statements are not submitted by Monday. He has to fly to and from Scotland to take the statements and then return to play next day. The inside story of the shambles of the RFU’s opposition to professionalism in Rugby is a fascinating read.
His account of the difficulties that he had with retirement – announcing his retirement and then making a come-back – losing his first marriage in the process is gripping.
“As a former international sportsman, I have had to confront the difficult fact that, when only half my life has passed, the abnormal and extreme sensations I experienced during my sporting career have gone for good and nothing will ever replace or match them. Inevitably, this loss is not easily absorbed and tends to make everything thereafter seem mundane”. (Page x)
His humour comes out in many places. When the English pack is accused of an illegal move, he argues that it cannot be with three policemen and a solicitor among the players! He seriously considers standing for parliament but adds “Considering that in all my time at Nottingham, Harlequins and Richmond I never made a single claim for expenses, I would have been a crap MP.” (Page 281).
Brought up with Methodist foster parents, he rejected their faith at 14. He continues that he has “since moved from atheism to agnosticism as it seems to me to be the only honest view: as they cannot prove the existence of God, I cannot disprove it.. As I get older, I do wish that I had faith and was able to accept its comfort. My world would be less frightening. But I cannot and it is my loss”. (Page 13-14)
The book is an absorbing insight into the world of elite sport. Brian Moore’s career spans an important period in the development of elite rugby and its move to professionalism. The book portrays a driven man who gained considerable success but at quite a cost.