Censorship has no chance against rugby muscle

As the Rugby World Cup gets under way in England, Reporters Without Borders reveals the reasons for the correlation between a country’s skill in rugby and its respect for media freedom. The truth can be found in both numbers and what happens on the ground. The countries that are best at rugby also have the freest press. The nations that have mastered the scrum, tackle and drop kick are also those whose journalists are the most skilled at investigative reporting and features. The correlation is undeniable if you compare the list of the teams participating in the Rugby World Cup in England and the Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom Index. Hats off to the All Blacks and Wallabies. Of the 20 countries taking part in the tournament, 19 are in the top half of our 2015 press freedom index, which ranks a total of 180 countries. Furthermore, nine of the world’s ten best rugby nations are in the press freedom index’s top 50. New Zealand, the current champion and first in the IRB ranking, is 6th in the press freedom index, while Canada is 8th and Ireland is 11th. France is both far from being favourite in the rugby tournament and also some way down in the index (38th), like Italy (73rd). Meanwhile Georgia (69th) and Fiji (93rd) will scarcely have a look-in, according to the bookmakers. But is it the oval ball that favours media freedom, or is it the fourth estate that guarantees the quality of the sport of gentlemen? Which came first, the chicken or the egg? You wouldn’t have to ask this kind of scientific question about soccer. Countries with a really bad record on media freedom took part in the 2014 Football World Cup in Brazil. They included Iran (173rd), Russia (152nd), Mexico (148th), Cameroon (133rd), Honduras (132nd), Algeria (119th) and Colombia (128th). There’s clearly something special about rugby. Let’s be serious. Rational reasons can be found for the positive correlation between rugby and media freedom. Firstly, rugby isn’t played (or is rarely played) in the countries that get a red card for violence against journalists. North Korea, Eritrea, Turkmenistan and China are more into dark prison cells than freewheeling rugby scrums. In Syria, Somalia and Libya, you’re more likely to hear gunshots than the smack of a leather ball. In Saudi Arabia, they use leather to make whips for lashing journalists, not to make balls for sports. Secondly, analysis of the economic performance of the participating nations offers a more practical indicator. Rugby is played in the world’s most developed countries. Its British upper-class origins probably have something to do with this. As Reporters Without Borders noted when it released the 2015 press freedom index, per capita GDP correlates positively with media freedom (a correlation coefficient of 0.41). In other words, although culture is an important variable, the richer the country the more it is likely to respect its journalists and freedom of expression. So there is a correlation, albeit apparently only an indirect one, between letting a rugby ball loose on the pitch and letting journalists work freely.