Luthori

[Ligbruderkrieg]

“Rather unfortunate and totally avoidable defeats” recognises Roses’ head coach in Six Nations Tournament.
June 5724

“Of course, it’s a disappointing performance, first march against Mordusia, we lose on the slimmest of margins, the boys gave everything they could, but it wasn’t successful. However, the match against Kalistan was a disaster. [...] There’s no way around it.”

This was the solemn declaration that the head of Luthori’s national rugby team had to say during a press conference following the highly-anticipated march against Kalistan, which the Roses lost by 10-42, a total humiliation for those who were considered to have been among the favourites to win the tournament. Blame was placed on the shoulders of Head Coach Robert Mell, whose tactics were attacked for having been “unprepared for the Kalistani onslaught” according to one editorial for the Times. For his part, the Roses’ head coach recognised his “fair share of the blame” in the recent streak of defeats. “Obviously my tactics and the way we played against Kalistan were both lacking, totally unacceptable for a nation of our standards [...] we should have been prepared at 100% to not have been caught off guard by this relentless team...”

While recognising his responsibility for the team’s misfortunes in Valruzia, the Luthorian head coach also sharply attacked the Luthorian media for their perceived “mistreatment” of his players: “...Look, I know that losing 10-42 is a lot to handle, but c’mon, cut them (the players) some slack. The treatment of some of you guys towards this team has been borderline unbearable to watch, when we win, we are celebrated, but when we lose, some of you guys, have called us traitors, telling us we should get off the team. What is this treatment? [...] Do you want to create a trust-worthy environment in this field, then posting such stories will not help, quite the contrary.”

Some articles posted on social media by independent journalists have been sharply criticising the team since the beginning of the tournament, with other anoynmous social media accounts insulting the team due to its bad results. However, others have defended the team, high-profile personas having taken the stand to support the Luthorian national team, even in defeat. Furthermore, Mr. Mell boldly stated that Luthori would win the 5723 men tournament of the Six Nations and bring “the trophy home with us”, threatening his resignation if his promise wasn’t fulfilled: “Mark my words, we’re gonna win this tournament and if we don’t, I’ll be gone by the next day.”

This statement alone has sparked huge debate on social media and in news, with some users jokingly stating that the head coach “placed all his aura in a once-in-a-generation moment”, in more traditional news setting, some journalists argue that this promise was “necessary” to “give a confidence boost to the team and a thing that they all want to see, the continuation of their coach’s contract with the national team.” Rugby fans asked in Fort William if the coach’s promise was possible, were more sceptical: “I feel like we’re not going to make it, like, the two last matches were very disappointing and even quite painful to watch, so, I don’t see us winning the tournament” said Rory, 47, a life-long-time fan of rugby. On the opposite, Stanley, 33, offer us a more positive version of events: “We can win, we have the team, we have the fans, it’s not two matches that have defined us in the past nor will in the present, we’ve come back from worse situation that this, and I’m confident we can pull it off.”

While the male team is current in crisis mode, the female team, while losing their recent match against Valruzia have received praise for their “talented style of play”, furthermore, the women matches are receiving far more attention from the mainstream public due to the female and male Six Nations Tournaments being held simultaneously. “The recent push of female rugby isn’t due to chance at all, it due to the talents of the national women’s rugby team, their strong performances among other things.” said female rugby commentator and former coach of Union Alchester, Paola Brettford.