Root of Evil

The professionalisation of rugby union in 1995 is often decried for supposedly introducing the root of all evil to an otherwise heavenly sport. But professionalism opened socially just pathways into the sport. I contend that professionalism and money are not the root of all evil in rugby. For many women, Blacks, and lower-class communities, the professionalisation of the sport represents a heavenly removal of financial obstacles to playing the sport they love. Indeed, it seems impossible to be a member of the rugby honour society if one does not have the required capital or merits. It is therefore necessary, as this chapter proposes to do, to rethink the relations between money, honour, ubuntu and sport.