A nasty case of 'Irvine's swipe'.
As a taster for the forthcoming posts on this blog, here's a sample set of notes from a notebook I was using a few months before the tournament:
"While on holiday, I notice in my personal emails one from Rugby World Cup 2015 (the Union one - I am on a mailing list from previous work with the RFU).
The email grandly declares that there will be a 'Media Operations Briefing', that it will take four hours and will be the first of two. A whole two years ahead of the tournament.
As soon as I read it my heart sinks, as I know at least one Rugby League journalist will notice it.
First out of the traps is Chris Irvine of The Times, never one to resist the temptation to compare apples with pineapples. "I must have missed the Rugby League World Cup one" he 'quips' on Twitter.
Although on leave and packing for a few days with my folks, I reply to his tweet, telling him he hasn't missed it and I look forward to seeing him at ours in September. He replies via a direct message, pointing out he was being 'ironic'.
Professional courtesy presents me from replying with "Oh you were going for Socratic irony, as in an adroit pretence of ignorance."
But I leave it, shrug my shoulders, get on with my packing and wonder how anyone up to now has managed to develop a positive view of RLWC2013."
I must point out that I got to know Chris very well and he's a very good journalist who knows his Rugby League inside out, but it wasn't the first time (and wouldn't be the last) that he had a little swipe at us.
