The left hate to admit it, but rugby is no longer a pastime for the privileged

Why do lefties hate rugby union so much? Not all of them, of course. There are one or two who enjoy the sport, but the majority loathe it. Tomorrow marks the start of the rugby World Cup, which is being hosted by England. You can be sure there will be plenty of moaning about the supposedly ‘elite’ sport.

In 2013, Ian Stewart, a Labour party member and blogger, wrote in an article that he was partial to rugby, an admission he conceded many of his comrades would find ‘as outrageous as professing a liking for bullfighting’. People, perhaps, like David Bowden, associate director of the Institute of Ideas, who has described rugby union as ‘the sport of posh boys and coppers…the way that the English ruling classes have lorded it over those uncouth, working-class games’. Matthew Syed, the Times sports writer and former Labour party candidate, is another who finds it hard to conceal his disdain for the game.