Working for free – a rugby player’s view

My eye was caught by a piece by Catherine Spencer in yesterday's Guardian.  Catherine is a former captain of the England women's rugby team, and author of a charmingly alliterative book Mud, Maul, Mascara.  She starts with the observation that men in the England rugby team are paid £25K per match, whilst their Japanese counterparts get barely enough to cover meagre subsistence costs. Catherine goes on to argue not against professional payments generally, but that the revenue generated by international matches should go back into the grassroots.  She says that it cannot be money that motivates people to want to play for their country - pointing out that the Japanese…
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