D'Arcy Waldegrave: Field no place for players to make a statement

World Rugby has backed down on a law to stop sevens players from writing messages on their strapping. Photosport

By D'Arcy Waldegrave

Oddly, it appears that World Rugby weren't prepared for the player driven uproar over their sneaky edict to ban players from expressing themselves through ink on their ever-present strapping.

News that rugby sevens players could no longer scribble on their tape due to their sport's involvement with the Olympic movement, was met with howls of protest, predominantly on social media, by athletes who selfishly believe that the pitch is their own personal stage to air their opinions.

World Rugby have sheepishly back-pedalled and allowed minimal messaging on players wrists for the opening round of the sevens series this weekend in Dubai. They should be careful with their acquiescence, and remember who runs the game, and who it's run for.

The rugby pitch, and the 14 minutes of sevens action that takes place on it is not a stage for the players to make a stand on. It's not their game. It's not their crowd, it's not their audience. It belongs to World Rugby, and us, the fans.

I get that players draw inspiration from a child's initials, I understand some players need visual cues to dig deeper, therefore most strapping graffiti is of a small and personal nature. But it's important that this embryonic point of expression is shut down now before it develops into a much larger and more predominant form of athlete driven social commentary.

When political and religious statements are made, the line is crossed. It starts with a psalm and in Kane Hames' case ends with a statement of solidarity with his Standing Rock message.

I believe players have no right to use the platform of game day to tell us what they think.

That's what social media is for.

It may appear draconian, the ban is a pragmatic and simple way of dealing with a potential long-term headache for the game. Instead of policing what is acceptable or not, just say no.

If the players don't like it, they are welcome to do something else.

Not your game, not your stage.