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RUGBY
Rugby has had a bad summer culminating in Harlequins' Bloodgate affair. I hate the damage done to my favourite sport's reputation - cheat is the worst insult in sport and it is merited here - but will it have a major effect long term? I have read suggestions that this will discourage parents from taking lads to Sunday morning mini-rugby, that players will retire, that sponsorships will not be renewed. Sorry, I can't see it. The game clearly needs to clean house and perhaps we will gain the benefit of rugby ceasing to be holier than thou, of recognising that there are problems and dealing with them openly rather than sweeping them under the carpet.
It's a less than ideal backdrop to the start of the season but those I have spoken to don't see Bloodgate as affecting the market. What's more suppliers to the market have been busy developing new products, new sales opportunities to take advantage of the consistently increasing enthusiasm for the sport both among both players and spectators at international and club level.
