How rugby became a darling of Europe’s chauvinist right

Rare is the European politician who does not profess a passion for football. Supporting the local club is a sure-fire way to being seen as an everyman; visiting players in the changing rooms after a match is as much a ritual of electioneering as smooching babies. One politician stands apart. Giorgia Meloni, Italy’s hard right prime minister, is publicly unmoved by football, by far the most popular sport in Italy and Europe. Her game is rugby. There, burly men crash into each other for 80 minutes and whoever can most often limp, stagger or dive past the try line wins the game. Alas, Ms Meloni’s support did not help her Azzurri progress past the group stages of the Rugby World Cup, which is currently taking place in France. But the tournament has rekindled the political class’s interest in the sport there. Many, as it happens, are allies of Ms Meloni on the chauvinist fringes of the spectrum.