Let them play for the sake of sport

TO COMBAT both Aaron Ramsey’s and Gareth Bale’s decisions to play for an Olympic GB Team in 2012 is like telling Sam Warburton and George North “You can’t play for the Lions”.

There are a number of differences between football and its wiser brother rugby. The obvious being the difference in the shape of ball, which any school child will learn quickly in the playground if given the chance.

But the more murky differences are the ones that explain why Wales’ IRB and FIFA world rankings are light-years apart.

Brush aside the fact that football – or soccer for any readers down under – is viewed globally by a larger audience and overwhelms over sports by the sheer numbers who play it.

Rugby has a unique concept when it comes to its international fixtures, one that football should follow suit.

The club-versus-country debate is ongoing. It would take some courage to reject an invitation to play for your nation so to concentrate wholly on ambitions at domestic level.

And where players do have a choice, the words of Jim Mallinder, Northampton Saints’ rugby director who has thrown his name into the hat of possible contenders for England's head coach role, have this week rung true: “Everyone should aspire to play at the top level.

For Ramsey and Bale, nothing could be more exact. Despite a difference in sporting backgrounds for a lot of Welsh talent, a sportsman should always be given the option to compete at their sport’s pinnacle, especially players of Ramsey's and Bale’s calibre.

In rugby, club fixtures are not postponed just because the league’s best players are on international duty. The fact is, football is so deep in its own pocket, it fears its fan-base will turn away on weekends its star names are not available.

While eyes are watching nations compete during the 2012 RBS 6 Nations, clubs and regions in the Aviva Premership, Pro 12 and Top 14 are forced to delve into their youth teams, to think about attrition and the future of the club’s potential.

It also makes for a closer battle in their respective leagues, giving lower clubs the chance to compete and billionaire owners in the football world more to think about when spending if they know their multi-million pound employees won’t be available for selection.

A chance to represent their country at Olympic level will strengthen bonds in football. If not, it will instead be left to rust.

Ramsey and Bale should have the blessing of their national coach Gary Speed, not a dressing down.

On the flipside, if rugby showed the same combativeness between its country and clubs as they do in football, I doubt the world would be blessed with half the talent that has come to its fore.