How rugby became a darling of Europe’s chauvinist right

Rare is the European politician who does not profess a passion for football. Supporting the local club is a sure-fire way to being seen as an everyman; visiting players in the changing rooms after a match is as much a ritual of electioneering as smooching babies. One politician stands apart. Giorgia Meloni, Italy’s hard right prime minister, is publicly unmoved by football, by far the most popular sport in Italy and Europe. Her game is rugby. There, burly men crash into each other for 80 minutes and whoever can most often limp, stagger or dive past the try line wins the game. Alas, Ms Meloni’s support did not help her Azzurri progress past the group stages of the Rugby World Cup, which is currently taking place in France. But the tournament has rekindled the political class’s interest in the sport there. Many, as it happens, are allies of Ms Meloni on the chauvinist fringes of the spectrum.Rugby has historically been a pursuit of the prosperous middle class, a sport not so much of the streets as of the private school. That may once have limited its appeal among populists, keen to appeal to blue-collar types first. Not at all, according to , a magazine that doubles as a mouthpiece for the French hard right. It has lauded “La France rugby”, an idyllic land where fans are polite, men are manly and players patriotic. That chimes with Ms Meloni, for whom rugby “represents true values, pride and commitment”. In Britain, too, populists know how to rally around the oval ball. Nigel Farage, its Brexiteer-in-chief, wallowed in his party’s “rugby club” image, and celebrated one national team win at a previous tournament with a pint of England’s Glory.