Purity and simplicity are not among the nouns most commonly associated with Rugby Union in its current state of confusion: prop forwards were routinely described as “simple” back in the day, but that was a different thing altogether.
So we must find our sporting Edens where we can. The best place right now? Tokyo.
A few hours after the Lions’ victory over the Springboks in the Test series opener in Cape Town, a low-profile Austrian cyclist by the name of Anna Kiesenhofer –a rider without a professional contract, it should be emphasised – won the Olympic Women’s Road Race by riding away fr...