Posted: Wednesday 17 March 2010
Rugby players debate against football stars in first Tuesday showdown
A huge audience turned out for “This House thinks rugby is better than football”, the first in a series of four debates being held in Young Speakers’ Club. Mr. Durrheim’s room was almost filled to capacity with over 50 pupils and staff, who listened to some excellent speeches from both the Proposition and Opposition teams.
The Proposition, consisting of Cameron Pringle, Rory Brown and Craig Morrison (all Form 3), were on the attack against football, whilst outlining the merits of being involved in rugby. An excellent opening case was made by Cameron, ably supported by Rory’s follow-up attack. Everything from the fitness of players to the sectarianism often associated with Scottish football was raised by the Proposition, with Craig Morrison pointing out that “some of the world’s most famous footballers, such as Cristiano Ronaldo, are paid around £200,000 a week; an obscene amount of money compared to the wages of the average rugby player, who is likely to be fitter and more dedicated to his sport.”
Such comments as these were treated with derision by the Opposition, which consisted of Calum Bennett, Hamish Conway and Charlie Caffery (all Form 2). Charlie pointed out that a Form 3 rugby player was devouring an entire chocolate bar on his own – hardly an advert for their fitness. Calum made the point that he regularly attends football matches with his dad, while Charlie insisted that “the atmosphere at any football match is so much better than the crowd reaction at Murrayfield last Saturday”. Controversial!
After a series of insightful (and some comical) points from the floor, Mr. Durrheim called for a vote and an audience stuffed with rugby players voted for the motion in a landslide. Each of the speakers made very fine arguments and defended his respective sport well. Fun was had by all, and the presence of a lively, engaged audience made a real effect on the atmosphere at this debate. The next debate is on the motion “This House thinks that video games are saaaaad!”, and is likely to provoke heated discussion between those who know the difference between Grand Theft Auto and Gran Turismo.