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I couldn't even bring myself to despise rugby
The Observer
|June 01, 2025
In her search for a sport to love, Marie Le Conte finds the heat of a scrum leaves her cold
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I am against dating apps as I believe that love ought to be found in unexpected places, and playing it safe never does you any good. I repeat this to myself like a mantra on the way to south-west London, an area I dislike, to watch rugby, a sport I'm convinced I will loathe.
I have dressed up for the occasion, by which I mean that I looked through my closet for an outfit that screamed “I actually enjoyed the coalition years.” Sometimes it’s nice to blend in.
Speaking of which - I get talking to two Harlequins FC fans on the train platform, and they offer me a seat next to them on the way to the stadium. The older one, though helpful on the rules, which I know nothing about, chooses to bravely embrace all stereotypes by calling football “oikball” and reminiscing about afternoons spent in the car park of Twickenham Stoop, eating pies and drinking champagne.
This story is from the June 01, 2025 edition of The Observer.
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