Hey guys, Andy here. Part of my DNA is sports and in particular rugby; I love watching it for the drama, the skill, and for a sense of tribal belonging. Sport has also offered some iconic moments in photography; the aerial photograph of Muhammad Ali walking back to his corner after knocking out a prone Cleveland Williams in 1966, Tommie Smith and John Carlos’ raised black gloved fists on the 200m podium at the Mexico City Olympics in 1968, Michael Jordan taking off from the free throw line to win the Slam Dunk contest in 1988, with the look of horror and despair on the Australian faces unable to stop the drop goal that won England the Rugby World Cup in 2003…. The list goes on.
This weekend past another set of sporting images caught my eye; those of the post match celebrations of of Union Bordeaux Bègles (UBB) who won the Investec Champions Cup to be crowned the best rugby club in Europe. French UBB defeated English Northampton Saints 28- 20 with much of the pre- match build up focusing on Saints’ young superstar Henry Pollock.
Pollock has burst onto the rugby scene this season; he earned his first international cap, scoring twice off the bench in March for England against Wales and, with a call up to the British & Irish Lions tour to Australia this summer, can be considered one of the best 38 rugby players in England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. His performances this season include scoring in the semi- final, away in Ireland three weeks earlier, leading to a two finger check of his pulse on his neck as his part of his scoring celebrations.
This celebration is doing the rounds as one of the talking points after the final against UBB with not only the gesture being used by a player in the French club in a changing room dance routine but also with UBB players and staff repeating it at the bar.
Sport is a product constantly looking for new ways to promote, to grow, and to reach new audiences. At aged 20 years old, Pollock is already a poster boy with young fans aspiring to be him. In such context, scoring celebrations and expressing a swaggering personality in a high profile match (ie the semi- final) is mana from heaven for rugby. However with the highs come the lows; despite being early in his professional career, opponents already openly talk of ‘targeting’ Pollock and a UBB player was cited for allegedly grabbing him by the throat after the final whistle.
As Pollock’s Northampton teammate, Finn Smith, said; “I am surprised if you have just won a European Cup, the first thing you want to do is start a fight with a 20-year-old. I felt that was interesting.”
It is hard not to see the UBB post match copying of Pollocks’s pulse check as mocking and boorish. However by repeatedly copying him, in multiple settings shown on multiple social media feeds, UBB have perversely elevated their young opponent. In their attempts to mock him, they have given him extra column inches and validated his scoring celebrations. Rather than create their own new expression and focus on themselves, the club decided to visually express their win by copying the a 20 year old at the start of his professional career. Talk about living rent free in someone’s head and so much for the flair and creativity of UBB.
Visuals can often lose their original context and take on different meanings to different people and thusly can be given a new lease of life; how many sports fans will not be aware of the Pollock’s pulse check origin and only seen UBB’s performance of it? The current club rugby season, in both England and France, is due to end soon; but what are the chances of the pulse check becoming a scoring celebration in amateur and schoolboy rugby not only in England but also in France next season? Pollock may have been on the losing side last weekend but UBB are doing the heavy lifting to ensure his contribution to sporting visuals lives on.
*For copyright and licence reasons, the cover image is a stock image (mea culpa). To view the images described in this post, please click on the links.
**Update; on Thursday 29th May, UBB prop Jefferson Poirot was suspended for two weeks pleading guilty to the allegation of grabbing the throat of the Northampton player Henry Pollock by the throat. After the final whistle of the match was blown Poirot, who had been substituted off at 59 minutes, ran onto the pitch and committed the ‘act of foul play that warranted a red card.’
andybarnham
I am a portrait photographer based in Cheltenham, UK. Born in Hong Kong to a Chinese mum and British dad, I had an international upbringing while I educated in the UK. I started photography as a hobby while serving as an officer in the British Army.
After my service I turned this passion into a career and became immersed in London's sartorial scene. I am now focusing my camera on portraiture and using this eye for detail which was refined over ten years. As a former Royal Artillery officer it is only fitting I shoot with a Canon camera.
