by Colin Spiro 19 November 2008
|
Lapasset: "I am a rugby
man first" |
Part III:
More than just a game
“In the finals of the last two world cups in
2003 and 2007 there has been just one try and people have
played for just not losing the game; we don’t play to win
the game with motion and creativity. We need that.”
In the third and concluding part of our
exclusive interview with Bernard Lapasset we found out what
makes the IRB chairman tick, how best to integrate
Argentina, why the ELVs are proving so contentious and where
he sees the future of his beloved game going.
Being chairman of an international sporting
body is an onerous task, especially in terms of the amount
of time spent travelling, meeting and greeting. There are
endless functions to attend, dignitaries to speak to and
issues to address, especially when trying to drive an
expansionist vision through what some perceive as an archaic
organisation.
The onset of open professionalism, the growth
in popularity of the Rugby World Cup and the push for
Olympic inclusion all mean that Lapasset has a full and
diverse diary which takes him constantly around the globe.
“I have no more house, no more family, no
more team, no more language. My language is different now,
it’s totally changed,” he laments jokingly when reflecting
on his hectic schedule.
“But I am a rugby man first. I like rugby. I
like the atmosphere of rugby and I am sure that rugby is a
good game for the future. I am sure of that,” he adds with
conviction.
Lapasset was once quoted as saying, “We have
the capacity to exist in the world through rugby”, and I
asked him if he still thought this held true.
“Yes, that’s correct. I definitely think
that. Look at my diary…Acapulco, Rome, Russia, Dhaka… every
week I am travelling around the world, but we need that.
“I remember when I started discussions with
the IOC about rugby and they said rugby was just for English
guys. But no more. Rugby is different. It is no more like
that. Rugby is open to a lot of new countries in the world,
speaking English, Spanish, French, Japanese, and Chinese.
“Kazakhstan is a strong Union in rugby and
the Brazilian women won the qualification in Dubai, beating
Argentina in the final. So, for the first time, the
Brazilian women could be in Dubai to play rugby sevens in
the World Cup. That’s terrific news and I need to speak
about that.
“Unfortunately I don’t speak very well in
English but I speak good Spanish - my second language is
Spanish because we are very near Spain and in this area [the
Haute Pyrenees] we speak a special language, a Patois called
Occitan which is very close to Spanish – and when I speak
with the Olympic movement I speak Spanish.
“A lot of time I speak Spanish and it is
important to promote this image. My job is not to work in
Dublin – we have a lot of people to do that – my job is to
promote rugby with the vision we have in other parts of the
world. To show that rugby is no longer any more just for the
gentlemen with a cup of tea. That’s the image that we had
before and we need to change that and to promote rugby
throughout the world.”
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