Room 101: John Kingston – Harlequins forwards coach

 John Kingston1. Top team bias in National team selection
Whether national team coaches like to admit it or not they are undoubtedly influenced by the media when it comes to team selection. This is a rocky road to go down because if you select the darling of the press and he has a bad game you'll quickly find yourself left out on a limb and having to explain why you put him in the side in the first place, while all the time the rugby writers conveniently forget their part in the process. Both the selectors and the media have the tendency to think that only players at the top three or four clubs should come into consideration. In my mind it should be irrelevant who the player plays for; it should be the best player, pure and simple, who gets the nod. Anyway, if a player is playing well in a struggling side, surely that gives him a better argument for inclusion?
TRP verdict:  Modern rugby is about the top two inches, not the top two clubs. You're in.
2. Disorganised people
Disorganised people drive me mad – on all sorts of levels. One example that springs to mind is when you're out shopping and the person in front of you looks at the cashier as if they've got two heads when they're told how much to pay. They then spend an inordinate amount of time getting the right cash card out, looking for their loyalty card, faffing about looking for money off vouchers etc. etc. It is totally unnecessary and inconsiderate to others not to be prepared for what is, after all, an everyday transaction. The knock-on effect in terms of the disruption this causes is dreadful. I think they should have a label on their foreheads marking them out as disorganised people so you can either get your own back on them or avoid them like the plague.
TRP verdict:  Disorganised people get a straight red card form us too. You're in.
3. Sunderland AFC
This choice won't come as a surprise to people who know I hail from . For over 100 years Sunderland have tried to claim they're as big as my hometown team. Believe it or not some people have been taken in by this falsehood! There is no plain on which the two clubs fall into the same category: Newcastle, despite not winning a domestic trophy for the best part of 50 years, regularly gets 50,000 fans come hell or high water, while Sunderland have tens of thousands of empty seats for their home matches. Darlington, Hartlepool and Middlesbrough are all bigger clubs.
TRP verdict:  At least they've got memories of the ‘Roker Roar'; all you've got is Geordie Shore. You're out.

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