Social media has affected rugby in a positive way for example it has increased the number of people that rugby has been able to reach through fans feeling closer to the players. However social media has also been a disaster in some senses. How is this so? Social media has given the worst type of fan a platform to say exactly what they think without consequences. This fan has become known as the ‘Rugby nause’. A nause is generally that one person who hasn’t played rugby in years, if ever, but suddenly thinks that they are an expert and are entitled to say or post whatever they want.

How is it possible for a ‘nause’ to have so much effect?

Before social media the ‘nause’ wouldn’t have had much of an influence due to only being able to give their opinions to their friends or people around them. However social media has given them the platform to say whatever they want to a much greater audience and often even reach the players, who previously wouldn’t be affected due to their separation from the fan.

This direct channel that the ‘nause has to the player has lead to a rising issue of mental health in not just rugby but all sport. Players are giving everything physically and emotionally when they play fans shouldn’t be able to put additional unnecessary strain on player well-being just because someone has had a few drinks watching the game and gained some confidence to tear players apart.

A rugby ‘nause’ posting their opinion of Owen Farrell

An example of this happening recently is with Saracens player Owen Farrell making a mistake with tackle height causing danger to the opposition. But of course the ‘nause’ gets to post the opinion that it was completely on purpose trying to take the oppositions head off because he’s a thug. Being realistic is the England captain actively going to go out to hurt someone and put his chances of playing in the upcoming internationals in jeopardy.

In all I think social media has done more good than bad giving young fans a chance to look behind the scenes into players life and what it takes to play professionally, but something needs to be done to take the negative side of the platform away. We shouldn’t let someone put players in a position where they want to give up with the game and spend the journey home from a game broken crying because of the personal attacks on them because the ‘nause’ forgets that players are human and have bad games.

Saracens defensive coach Alex Sanderson reacting to negativity in sport.