Grit or glamour?

As a lot of you might already know, I'm a Springboks supporter. For those who don't know, they are the South African national rugby team. Something else you might also know is that in the English Premier League, I am a strong Manchester United supporter.

Well, something occured to me today. It's a well known fact that the Boks are content with playing "ugly rugby" to get results. It's a term I disagree with, but you guys get what I mean. If the situation calls for ten man rugby, then they'll gladly oblige. The backline don't come to life as much as the All Black or Wallabies blackline, and they're okay with that.

Recently though, Manchester United have been accused of playing "ugly football". With the loss of Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez over the past couple of years, the flair has diminished from the famed club; rather, it tends to grind out wins on pure determinaton and a steelish nerve. In a similar vein to the Springboks, it isn't as attractive to neutral viewers as watching Arsenal or Barcelona weave in and out of their opponents (I cannot WAIT to watch the Arsenal vs Barcelona matches this year), but it is also similar in that it gets the right results. You want proof? Manchester United is the only unbeaten team in the league (so far) this season.

But which is more important? People don't like it for some reason when teams are deemed unexciting, but if you think about it, isn't the first priority always winning the game? Sure, if you got the players with that certain spark, it's never a bad thing to play a more visually exciting game. But surely not at the expense of the all important victory right?

Don't get me wrong; I don't purely support these teams because of their style of play. It's just that I support them and they happen to play this way. I also support the Roosters and Storm in the NRL, who definately could not be accused of lacking flair, so that should put those thoughts to rest.

I just think that if you support a team, you should appreciate that they are doing their best to get results. If you don't like how they get it, well, I'm sure you'll find a team that can play more to your liking. For me personally, I don't care. If Manchester United continue to play like this and win, well, I'd be a more happy fan than you are, simply beause of this: