The Current State of Rugby
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@Donsteppa said in The Current State of Rugby:
Entirely anecdotal... the crowd at Twickenham, followed by a chat with someone in local club rugby this morning, still has me thinking that the game is in very different health in the UK/Europe compared with Australia and NZ.
That could also be pretty regional. It's going great guns in Cornwall apparently, with more junior teams than before. On the other side of the fence, a mate involved in a club in Bucks tells a different story with decreasing numbers of younger players balanced by a small increase in women's and touch rugby.
Putting aside the travails of the Premiership, there appears to be some serious issues in England rugby at the grass roots.
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The fact that France have had Garces in camp and the Allblacks have had Ben O Keefe in camp in Germany tell you all you need to know about the modern game.
The idea this course of action needs to be taken by a team to make sure they don't fall foul of the law is indicative of the hole the game finds itself in.
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@Steve said in The Current State of Rugby:
The fact that France have had Garces in camp and the Allblacks have had Ben O Keefe in camp in Germany tell you all you need to know about the modern game.
The idea this course of action needs to be taken by a team to make sure they don't fall foul of the law is indicative of the hole the game finds itself in.
That’s called preparation of the highest order
You’d have enough to say if they didn’t and then fell foul of refereeing interpretations
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Rugby union absolutely hates itself. As a sport it's becoming less and less appealing to watch
Thus far in the world cup I've watched the NZ game and the England game
Both boring as shitThe Knights v the Raiders today was a 100 miles in front of both both as a spectator sport. One game has constant ball movement, constant attack, constant tension.
The RWC had box kicks, penalty kicks, red cards for head clashes, and deliberately negative football
Rugby has been my game forever, but anyone who say top level rugby is better than the NRL for entertainment is kidding themselves
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@mariner4life It can be but quite often isn't.
Watch Chile against Japan and discover what we've lost in terms of spirit and sheer fun
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@NTA said in The Current State of Rugby:
@mariner4life It can be but quite often isn't.
Watch Chile against Japan and discover what we've lost in terms of spirit and sheer fun
This. Japan vs Chile has been great fun.
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Japan v Chile is not top level rugby
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Really?
They played no football. They kicked and kicked and kicked. They tackled
And they won
Good for them, deserved win. Same as England this morning, deserved win
But it is dogshit to watch -
@mariner4life said in The Current State of Rugby:
Japan v Chile is not top level rugby
It's the world cup you miserable bastard.
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@mariner4life said in The Current State of Rugby:
Really?
They played no football. They kicked and kicked and kicked. They tackled
And they won
Good for them, deserved win. Same as England this morning, deserved win
But it is dogshit to watchFair enough. Each to their own.
The NRL also had 2 of their 4 playoff games be no contest blowouts so it's easy to cherry pick the best game of the round.
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And it should be good
But no game in France this weekend will beat the game in Newcastle today
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@mariner4life said in The Current State of Rugby:
Rugby union absolutely hates itself. As a sport it's becoming less and less appealing to watch
Thus far in the world cup I've watched the NZ game and the England game
Both boring as shitThe Knights v the Raiders today was a 100 miles in front of both both as a spectator sport. One game has constant ball movement, constant attack, constant tension.
The RWC had box kicks, penalty kicks, red cards for head clashes, and deliberately negative football
Rugby has been my game forever, but anyone who say top level rugby is better than the NRL for entertainment is kidding themselves
Can’t say I miss 5 tackles then kick. Don’t miss league at all.
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@mariner4life said in The Current State of Rugby:
Really?
They played no football. They kicked and kicked and kicked. They tackled
And they won
Good for them, deserved win. Same as England this morning, deserved win
But it is dogshit to watchI cannot, on any level, accept that what Tom Curry did warrants a card of any colour.
There seems to be no such thing as an accident in Rugby anymore.
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Lol fuck 5 tackles and kick????
Watch an AB set of phases, if we don't make metres in 4 phases we are bombing
This is the dumbest and laziest rugby v league shot available -
@MiketheSnow said in The Current State of Rugby:
@Steve said in The Current State of Rugby:
The fact that France have had Garces in camp and the Allblacks have had Ben O Keefe in camp in Germany tell you all you need to know about the modern game.
The idea this course of action needs to be taken by a team to make sure they don't fall foul of the law is indicative of the hole the game finds itself in.
That’s called preparation of the highest order
You’d have enough to say if they didn’t and then fell foul of refereeing interpretations
I think both our posts can be valid at the same time. The use of the word interpretations in your post backs up my point.
It's inconsistent from week to week depending on the latest diktat, initiative or whimsy of whoever has the whistle.
Back in 1995 and 1999 I took no notice of who the refs were. You'd barely heard their voices over the din of the crowd.
Now they are the central characters.
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The simple fact is, if you are objective about it, rugby league is a better spectacle right now
They have the best balance of physicality against protection. They throw shape and play phase after phase
Winning with tries is still the main eventUnion is field position, red cards, and it's better not to have the ball.
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@mariner4life said in The Current State of Rugby:
But no game in France this weekend will beat the game in Newcastle today
Got anther 40ish games to go. 😜
TBH think you've got your rose coloured glass on about any games of yesteryear. Rugby has always been highly variable in quality.
NRL has always had the luxury of being fairly homogenous, where the best game is never really far from the worst.
I watched the second half of Knights Raiders and it was certainly high paced and dramatic. Some really amazing moments and some great execution on attack.
But it also featured a lot of absolutely shithouse tackling, abominable defence, and rubbish handling under zero direct pressure. League backs can't fucking align to save themselves (like the Warriors yesterday).
And it has too much kicking; I challenge anyone to criticise the Springboks' "clatterball" hanger game plan while simultaneously loving Rugby league.
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@mariner4life said in The Current State of Rugby:
The simple fact is, if you are objective about it, rugby league is a better spectacle right now
They have the best balance of physicality against protection. They throw shape and play phase after phase
Winning with tries is still the main eventUnion is field position, red cards, and it's better not to have the ball.
For all the attacking talent that was supposedly on the field in the France v NZ game, which we were led to believe, was a mouth watering curtain raiser....they didn't half kick the leather off it back and forth.
