“Imagine the outcry if only four players on a Scottish football team took the knee.”
Rugby players representing both England and Scotland have come under scrutiny after 14 of the 30 starters in yesterday’s Six Nations clash refused to take the knee ahead of kick-off.
The taking of the knee has become a widely used anti-racist gesture across the globe and especially in sport, after NFL quarter-back Colin Kaepernick first used it to protest police brutality in America.
Since then, after the Black Lives Matter protests last summer, athletes across numerous sports have adopted the gesture as a unified display of support for anti-racist movements.
Since the Premier League resumed in June, not one player has refused to take the knee before kick-off. The only high profile incident of a player not taking the knee was during Millwall’s clash with Derby County, when mixed race forward Colin Kazim-Richards chose to remain standing and raise his fist instead.
But in the world of rugby, there is clearly less of a consensus around the gesture.
Before the Calcutta Cup game between England and Scotland at Twickenham on Saturday, only four Scottish players took the knee, while 11 remained standing. Of England’s 15 starters, nine took the knee and six remained standing.
Those who refused to take the knee have since been criticised for their lack of support for the anti-discrimination gesture.
Oldfirmfacts1 posted on Twitter: “Imagine the outcry if only four players on a Scottish football team took the knee. Scotland rugby players deserve to be criticised for that embarrassing image.”
Imagine the outcry if only four players on a Scottish football team took the knee.
For @NotThe_OldFirm, Scotland rugby players deserve to be criticised for that embarrassing imagehttps://t.co/RsvuwcE3j2 pic.twitter.com/RBNHyfOwnM
— Oldfirmfacts (@Oldfirmfacts1) February 7, 2021
Sports writer for the Scotsman Moira Gordon posted: “Genuinely intrigued to know why so few of the Scotland team took a knee before the rugby v England. Everyone entitled to choose but optics aren’t great and it has taken shine off win for me. If they think racism isn’t an issue or that it isn’t their fight, they are wrong.”
Spanish football journalist Colin Millar wrote: “14 of the 30 starting players in England v Scotland refuse to take the knee in an act of solidarity against racism in society. Feels particularly poignant after another week of endless, disgusting racist abuse against footballers (and others) was highlighted. Again and again.
He continued: “What makes this so striking is that every player would have been aware that this would happen. Taking a knee is making a stand. Not taking a knee is also, by definition, taking a stand. In football, every team has united as one. There is clear solidarity and togetherness.”
What makes this so striking is that every player would have been aware that this would happen. Taking a knee is making a stand. Not taking a knee is also, by definition, taking a stand. In football, every team has united as one. There is clear solidarity and togetherness.
— Colin Millar (@Millar_Colin) February 6, 2021
@6jacyk88 wrote: “I have zero interest in rugby but I hope those 4 boys front and centre enjoyed their win tonight, your country is proud of you.”
I have zero interest in rugby but I hope those 4 boys front and centre enjoyed their win tonight, your country is proud of you 🏴 https://t.co/kspICYbuIA
— Jack MacPherson (@6Jacky88) February 7, 2021
Scotland won the game 11-6, but what should have been a celebratory occasion north of the border was sadly tarnished by this unsavoury incident.
