Stephen Moss: Rugby's Cup of Shame

On Saturday afternoon I had the misfortune to watch the second half of rugby union's Heineken European cup final, a tedious, attritional game between Leicester and Munster, allegedly two of the best sides in Europe.

I watched while following the county cricket scores on Ceefax, which had more drama - at least until the final minute of the game, when my armchair apathy erupted into anger. If you saw the match or have read the press reports, you will know what I'm referring to; if not I trust it will make you seethe too; if you live in Leicester I hope you feel a pang of remorse; if you had anything to do with the BBC's broadcast of the game you should feel the same.

Munster had a scrum close to the Leicester line. It was a great attacking opportunity and if the Irish side could score a try and convert it, they would win by a point and become European champions - a gripping finale that so banal a game barely merited. Just as the Munster scrum-half put the ball into the scrum, a Leicester player - out of sight of the referee - punched the ball from the scrum-half's hands and fed it to the feet of his own players. It was a cynical piece of gamesmanship that robbed Munster of their chance to win the game and ruined the climax of the match.

"Gamesmanship" is, of course, a euphemism - it was a blatant piece of cheating. The player who committed the act, Neil Back, has played many times for England, and captained both his club and country. It was a wretched act and a dreadful example to set for any young fans watching. The lesson for the day was that winning is everything and the spoils are won by whoever cheats most effectively. Terrific advice for sport and life.

Back's behaviour was lamentable enough, but what followed was worse. The commentators laughed it off as par for the course and one of them mentioned a French player who was famous for grabbing the opposition ball at the scrum; the interviewer who did the touchline interview with Back didn't even mention the incident; and Leicester's director of rugby, Dean Richards (another former England stalwart) insisted that there had been systematic cheating on both sides. So that's OK then.

The Leicester players embraced and raised the cup to the hackneyed strains of Queen's We are the Champions (Hank Williams's Your Cheatin' Heart would have been more appropriate); the BBC's "expert" panel had a few laughs about the Back backhander; and the fans celebrated. Everyone was happy, except the cheated Munstermen, me and, I hope, anyone who believes that winning is less important than respecting the game and playing it in the right spirit.

For some professional sportsmen, of course, that idea is anathema: cricketers will claim catches despite the fact that the ball has bounced; footballers will punch the ball into the net; and now rugby players will, it seems, do pretty well anything - their game has opted to become professional and now reveres the "professional" foul (another truth-twisting euphemism).

The absence of any condemnation of Back is astounding. Yesterday's papers deemed him "smart", "streetwise" and "crafty". "It takes street wisdom to get into a Heineken cup final," wrote Lawrence Dallaglio (another former England captain) in the Sunday Times. It is but a small step from the street to the gutter, not that England captains would notice.

What should happen is that Back should be banned, the cup be given to Munster, and Richards and the BBC commentators do a spot of community service to improve their sense of right and wrong - teaching innocent, eager 10-year-olds, say. To expect any of this from rugby's authorities - who are busy rewriting the rules to make sure none of the rich clubs are relegated from the sport's money-obsessed premier league in England - is of course naive. The only hope lies with Heineken, whose name has been tarnished; it should withdraw its sponsorship. What was that about refreshing the parts?

They could all look instead to golf, also showing on BBC2 on Saturday, perhaps the last sport where cheating - still called by its proper name - is seen as a crime. Players are scrupulous about calling penalties on themselves if they play an airshot or inadvertently move the ball before striking it; and anyone who cheats will get a lengthy ban (10 years in the case of one Scottish golfer who was caught moving his putts closer to the hole).

I do hope someone gives Neil Back a lengthy break from the increasingly shabby and discredited game he despoils. He should spend his enforced time off from the game playing some golf. Leave the jungle and embrace the fair way.

stephen.moss@guardian.co.uk