Three cheers for rugby’s Italian loophole

A friend was at Twickenham on Sunday sitting not far from the Italian coaching top brass, Conor O’Shea and Mike Catt. After an early tackle, and no ruck being formed, the Italian players ran to take up space in front of the England backs, blocking their attacking options. ‘That’s offside,’ shouted my friend. Catt, who knew her, glanced up. ‘No it’s not,’ he smiled gleefully. And it wasn’t. As the world now knows, the Italians had found a loophole — there couldn’t be an offside after a tackle once neither side formed a ruck. There cannot be many people who care for rugby and applaud the underdog who didn’t secretly admire the ruse, which neutered most of England’s running back play.

Of course, England’s coach Eddie Jones went ballistic, comparing it to the Trevor Chappell underarm bowling furore of 1981. It was, in fact, the sainted Greg Chappell who ordered his brother to bowl along the ground to stop the Kiwi No.