We don’t need this Jurassic humour

ONE person’s wisecrack is another’s cardinal sin, as anyone who has spent an evening in the company of Jimmy Carr or Ricky Gervais will readily acknowledge. We all have our uncrossable lines, but we draw them in different places – unless we have the misfortune to live in a theocracy, where the lines are drawn for us by people who never crack a smile, let alone burst into hysterics.

So what are we to make of the Jamie George Affair, which has left rugby followers in the red-faced corner, outraged by the misogynistic excess of a social media post from the “Alternative Commentary Collective” following last weekend’s New Zealand–England Test in Auckland, engaged in a culture-war skirmish with those in the significantly bluer corner, who consider the whole thing to be a storm in a punchline.

For those lucky few who don’t have the foggiest idea about any of this tawdriness, the England captain suffered an injury and was given on-field treatment by a female member of the medical team. So far, so normal: this is 2024, not the 13th century. Unfortunately, it didn’t stop the “ACC”, branded, albeit by themselves, as “New Zealand’s leading sport entertainment platform”, trotting out what used to be known as a “dirty joke”.

No doubt aware that the fast-deleted post was up long enough to inspire responses so dire that they elevated the original remark to the status of comic genius, George reacted with his usual surefootedness in praising the “many talented and hard-working female healthcare professionals”, adding that “it is disappointing that comments like this are still being made”.

Which was pretty much on the money. Anyone disagreeing with him might consider relocating to Jurassic Park, where there won’t be an internet connection for another 66 million years.