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#Post#: 104135--------------------------------------------------
Ethnicity in British Rugby
DIR By: SunburyQuin
Date: February 13, 2023, 3:19 am
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Whilst British Rugby has a good level of certain ethnic
minorities (eg Afro-Caribbean, Nigerian & South Sea Islanders),
I cannot think of any players from Indian, Pakistani,
Bangladeshi or S.E. Asian backgrounds (with the exception of
Marcus whose mother, we know, is from the Philippines). Can
anyone think of any ?
It would be good from a "levelling up" point of view (if those
are the right words), to see players from those ethnic
backgrounds represented in our game.
#Post#: 104137--------------------------------------------------
Re: Ethnicity in British Rugby
DIR By: Mandator
Date: February 13, 2023, 3:31 am
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Is it not same situation in British football?
#Post#: 104138--------------------------------------------------
Re: Ethnicity in British Rugby
DIR By: QuincyJones
Date: February 13, 2023, 3:45 am
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So long as there is equality of opportunity for all ethnic
groups, I don't see that it really matters.
#Post#: 104139--------------------------------------------------
Re: Ethnicity in British Rugby
DIR By: Yareet
Date: February 13, 2023, 3:57 am
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--- Quote from: SunburyQuin link ---
>
> Whilst British Rugby has a good level of certain ethnic
minorities (eg Afro-Caribbean, Nigerian & South Sea Islanders),
I cannot think of any players from Indian, Pakistani,
Bangladeshi or S.E. Asian backgrounds (with the exception of
Marcus whose mother, we know, is from the Philippines). Can
anyone think of any ?
> It would be good from a "levelling up" point of view (if those
are the right words), to see players from those ethnic
backgrounds represented in our game.
>
--- End Quote ---
Chris Saverimutto - ex-Sale and Ireland scrum half. Sri Lankan
dad.
But in many ways that proves your point. Over 40 years of
watching/playing, he is the only guy who springs to mind. I'm
sure we had this debate around the time of the BLM kneeling.
Ultimately there may not be any insutitutional blockers to any
demographic but there are cultural ones.
#Post#: 104143--------------------------------------------------
Re: Ethnicity in British Rugby
DIR By: never sleep
Date: February 13, 2023, 4:34 am
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It seems strange that we don't see more Sri Lankan players
considering how well developed the game is over there.
#Post#: 104148--------------------------------------------------
Re: Ethnicity in British Rugby
DIR By: Stoopendous
Date: February 13, 2023, 4:59 am
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I know it only proves the point but looking (not too far) back -
our own Tosh Masson is a Sikh. Aadel Kardooni ex of Tigers is
Persian.
#Post#: 104150--------------------------------------------------
Re: Ethnicity in British Rugby
DIR By: Fearless Fred
Date: February 13, 2023, 5:01 am
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--- Quote from: Stoopendous link ---
>
> I know it only proves the point but looking (not too far) back
- our own Tosh Masson is a Sikh. Aadel Kardooni ex of Tigers is
Persian.
>
--- End Quote ---
Tosh Masson, formerly of this parish. So far the only Sikh to
have played professional rugby.
Damn, you beat me to it!
#Post#: 104152--------------------------------------------------
Re: Ethnicity in British Rugby
DIR By: Stoopendous
Date: February 13, 2023, 5:26 am
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--- Quote from: Fearless Fred link ---
>
> Tosh Masson, formerly of this parish. So far the only Sikh to
have played professional rugby.
>
> Damn, you beat me to it!
>
--- End Quote ---
Sorry Fred - great minds eh?
#Post#: 104162--------------------------------------------------
Re: Ethnicity in British Rugby
DIR By: Nemoquin
Date: February 13, 2023, 9:48 am
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Brian Moore is part Chinese and the Underwood brothers have a
Chinese-Malaysian mother.
#Post#: 104170--------------------------------------------------
Re: Ethnicity in British Rugby
DIR By: championes
Date: February 13, 2023, 11:08 am
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Just from personal experience rugby seems to attract fewer
people from those backgrounds at far more levels than football
at the moment.
In football you see huge levels of participation from people
with Asian heritage at amateur level but very few end up either
a) pursuing or b) being successful in pursuing it further -
which has been linked to role models, cultural differences etc.
The PFA released something not too long ago (last year some
time) that said less than 0.5% of the 15000 academy and pro
players in England are from a south Asian background (for
example).
In rugby my guess is that there's even less participation at
lower levels - certainly (admittedly only anecdotally from our
experience as part of a club) the clubs around Twickers and the
teams we play against I'd say it's rare to see.
However, as you might imagine, cricket is the opposite (at least
at amateur level). Twickenham and many many other clubs around
here are majority Asian. I think there are stats that show
something like 1/3 of all amateur players in the UK have south
Asian heritage.
But again cricket sees the same thing as football which is that
only a tiny fraction of that number go on to professional
careers (with the ECB and others agreeing that it can't be
attributed to lack of talent). It's still true that you're far
more likely to make it in professional cricket if you're one of
the 6-7% who go to a fee paying school, for example.
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