A scrum of woke Parliamentary rugby players are miffed off today as a result of an email from the Chairman of the Commons and Lords Rugby Team, Mark Pawsey (who is also, coincidentally, the MP for the Rugby constituency). He has invited male MPs, Lords and staffers to sign up for a full tournament of rugby, his email quite reasonably invited female MPs to a less brutal game of touch rugby. “Nice bit of sexism” one rugby-loving staffer rather unfairly commented…

Writing to MPs with the subject line “Do you or anyone in your office play rugby?”, Pawsey explained the team plays “for fun under a modified version of the game called ‘Golden Oldies’ which enables those whose careers are nearly over to continue playing…”. The invitation seemed open to all, however the captain went on to say

“In previous sessions we have also accommodated lady players by having a short game of Touch Rugby before the match. So, ladies are also welcome to join!”

It would obviously be a dangerously uneven contact sport with mixed teams, this seems a perfectly reasonable compromise. What a ruck up!