Page 54 - All Shapes & Zebras From Treorchy

N
New Ways
of Doing Things
I’m not an old man yet. I wouldn’t even consider myself to be middle aged. In my mid-thirties, if I’d been playing in the forwards I’d in all probability be still trying to play. As a winger whose legs had started to abandon my body, I decided to call it a day a couple of years ago. Such is life.
All players have their own experiences of the sport, and I can’t help but feel that when I started playing senior rugby in 2005, it was a very different beast compared to the game when I hung up my boots some 15 years later. As with all sport, rugby changes and evolves through the years but I’d argue that some of the societal changes that we’ve experienced over the last 20 years have led to significant transformations within the sport.
One of the factors that stands out is the way social media has impacted upon the game. Now it’s not this book’s place to debate the pros and cons of social media, but linking it to rugby, it’s clear to see how much easier things have become with the widespread use of social media and the various apps on offer to teams and coaches. Team selection, training information, social dates, tour organisation – all can be sent out instantaneously via Facebook Messenger or WhatsApp, whereas in the past things would be done differently.
When I think back to the start of my rugby career, we didn’t even receive a phone call or text from the coach regarding team selection. We trained on Wednesday evenings and then, on the following night, the team selection would be handwritten on paper and ‘blu-tacked’ to the window of the clubhouse door. Some Good
52 ALL SHAPES & ZEBRAS FROM TREORCHY