EVERY now and then a phrase comes back to haunt you, which could be argued in the case of Jersey RFC’s head coach, Ben Harvey who, before the Island team lost 13-21 to Barnes talked the day before about luck.

‘I’m not interested in it,’ he said. ‘No manager should excuse the way their side played afterwards by using the “luck” word. ‘You’re either good enough, or your not. A coach’s job is to take luck out of the equation.’

Two days later, when Jersey were losing by a single point to the second-placed team in London I, in the 55th minute a woeful penalty attempt skewered yards to the left of the posts between two startled players who let the ball tumble into a Barnes’ player’s hands who caught the ball and fell over the line for a converted try.
Jersey had gone from trailing 13-14 to losing by the last try of the game. And with it had also gone any chance of promotion into the national division above. I talked to Ben about it afterwards and, true to his word, he said that the better team had won and had deserved to win. As for the ‘unlucky’ penalty kick, which turned out to be worth seven points to Barnes, not three, Ben had his own thoughts on that, too.

‘Rugby is an intelligent game; no matter what your position is you need to be aware of everything that’s happening on the pitch for every minute it’s being played.

‘Even at the highest level, in internationals, a player might lose a moment of concentration – how often do you see it happen? – which costs his team the points or the game.’

The ball bounces off the uprights; a player slips because it’s muddy under foot; another player is sin-binned . . . bad luck? – No, not really, and I understand full well the point Ben was making. A good kicker scores points; a fastidious player wears the right boots; a clever rugby player knows how to play within the rules without being given an unexpected ten minute rest by the referee.

To date, England have had ten players sin-binned in their last four internationals. Tomorrow, they’ll probably lose another one or two although coach Martin Johnson has been employing a top class referee to go over what is clean play, and what is cheating.

The laws don’t allow any space for luck, either good or bad. And a team of intelligent rugby players never loses so many to the bin . . .

R word starts to bite

Like many other Islanders who enjoy their sport, I’m becoming increasingly concerned by the knock-on effects of the world-wide recession.

Already we have been told that new sponsors will be needed for the Muratti and the Jersey Football Combination at the end of the season and other Island sports are having to trim their cloth accordingly.
However, in the long-term there will be other effects that haven’t been fully explained, including one or two which might seem quite surprising.

Take, for the example, the Island Games. We know that the 2009 Games in Aland will go ahead because the sporting islands taking part have made their plans and many competitors have saved their money.
For some islanders the same will be true of the Commonwealth Games.

However, what about the Island Games after these? – To the Isle of Wight in 2011 and Bermuda, in 2013?
Will Prince Edward Island (who bid for the 2013 Games before pulling out over lack of government backing) send a team to the Isle of Wight?

And – my own fear – what of 2013? This, from the official IGA website: ‘One of the IGA Executive’s concerns regarding the bid from Bermuda is the cost of living on the island as this is high compared with most of the other Member Islands and travel and accommodation could turn out to be more expensive than envisaged.’
So we could have, within a four-year period, the largest ever Games programme (Aland) followed by the smallest – Bermuda.

And if only two or three football teams agree to travel to any Games because of cost, to what extent does this devalue the Games, especially if some of the better players can’t afford it because they’re out of work or have families to support?

Sport can be a very selfish occupation. Then there are the media and officials. For the Recession doesn’t just hit players. It also hits officials . . . and the journalists and cameramen and their bosses which in turn could mean that every island’s coverage of the sports played is second hand or drastically reduced.

This, in turn, means that the Games are given less prominence, say in the Isle of Man or Prince Edward Island, and so the knock-on effect continues.

And again, ALL Islands have another shared problem – the cost of travel. So if passengers – and they don’t have to be sportsmen – don’t travel to or from the Island so frequently, either the fares will go up or the airlines will cut their routes and timetables.

And that could happen, in the Channel Islands, sooner rather than later when you see in the news (as I did yesterday) that the number of visitors has dropped by as many as ten per cent . . . and is falling still. That, inevitably, will have a worrying effect for everyone of us.

Rugby knight to remember

Another brilliant day, and evening, for rugby fans has been set up at the Jersey Rugby Club next Thursday. The Island’s top schoolboy U16s will battle for the Lord Jersey Cup in the afternoon, with the winning captain being presented the handsome trophy by none other than England’s World Cup winning maestro Sir Clive Woodward.

And if that were not enough, Sir Clive will also be giving a talk in a buffett evening at the club – something that should attract a far wider interest group than just rugby enthusiasts. Monies raised from the evening on 19 March, an 8 pm start for ‘How to be a Champion’, will go towards rugby development and the tickets, priced at just £7.50 can be obtained by ringing rugby development officer Mark White on 449766 or emailing m.white@gov.je

Chamber-style potty language

‘I told you to pass the xxxx ball to my feet. Not two yards behind me, you xxxx.’
‘xxxx xxxx. You’re a xxxx’.

This, and much more, from the senior football game I watched a few weeks ago.
And I enjoyed the game – but not the language. It was like listening to a broadcast of a sitting from the States Chamber!

Afterwards I spoke to the officials about the match. One of them sighed and explained that you have to adjust your reffing skills according to who’s playing. ‘Otherwise you could blow up 750 times or more in the course of a match,’ he said.

And I won’t labour the point; suffice it to say that the two players who were swearing at each other were both on the same team!

So why give up your Saturday afternoon to play a game and to be sworn at by someone who, on paper at least, is supposed to be your friend? ‘It won’t make any difference, but can you put it in your column?’ a bystander said. ‘It really does set a bad example for the kids who are watching.’

Of course it does; and perhaps I’ve been a sports reporter for far too long. For nowadays I don’t actually take any notice of four letter words on the pitch – although I must admit that the clever stuff, without the obscenities, still makes me chuckle.

Potty Chambers’ language style

FINALLY, if anyone wants to consider the full implications of drugs in sport, Dwain Chambers’ ‘Race Against Me: My Story’ (£18.99) offers a fascinating glimpse into the life of an athlete so stuffed with drugs that they cost him £30,000 a year and that in that year he would have taken up to 300 different substances.

At times I simply couldn’t believe what this man was doing to his body but these are just a few results that this cocktail could do: ‘you are increasing your risk of blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes; also the risk of ending up bald, with man breasts and a small dysfunctional penis; cramps, stiffness in your muscles, interrupted sleep patterns, torn hamstrings and a reduced life expectancy by anything approaching 20 years.’

All this to run 100m in 44 strides and in under ten seconds!