The Current State of Rugby
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@booboo I've been a Warriors tragic for years, love the Warriors (have hate watched them at times), don't really care about the NRL outside of the Warriors too much though.
But the hype around them gets on my nerves, where the fuck were all the train hanger ons when the Warriors were rubbish for a decade?
Hmmm, this could easily go in the Grumpy Old Man thread too.
Most games of rugby have been really good this year, well except for the live one I went (Blues v Tahs) which was awful.
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Click on the link, copy and paste it into archive.ph
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@booboo said in The Current State of Rugby:
latest bullshit doing the rounds, mainly because the Warriors lost the other week to a bloke dotting in the corner because the corner flag "isn't there" is how awesomely wonderful and innovative loigue is because corner flag awesomeness and rugby followed
NRL has a fucking fantastic hype machine.
They've got a game that is relatively straightforward, easily consumed, and thrashwanked about endlessly.
They're smart about promoting it, and strident in the criticism they give it BUT BUT BUT that criticism is carefully apportioned to singular aspects e.g a particular interpretation of a current rulee, or a bad call here or there. The rule is changed, or a quiet word had behind closed doors, and voila! Sorted. Show goes on.
Critically: the game itself is NEVER criticised.
Rugby's problem is that every fluffybunny thinks they can do better than the status quo, so they blather on about minutiae with no real answers except "in my day" (looking at you Campo, Burkey).
Yet we are all aware that the NH good most of the sway and they generally don't see a problem, so tinker with the edges.
We actually need reform that involves one of the refereeing hierarchy taking a Law each, stripping it back to its essence, then sitting around a table for two weeks to ensure the unintended consequences are limited.
The touch law right now is fucking ludicrous for a park referee to call. Numbers at lineout? Get fucked - I called one on the weekend and felt sick doing it. Etc
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@voodoo said in The Current State of Rugby:
@Bones said in The Current State of Rugby:
@Crazy-Horse said in The Current State of Rugby:
Five cards and counting in the one and half games I have watched today. There has got to be a better way. Who wants to watch games like these?
I'm still watching
Yeah, yeah, yeah…
I’m still watching ….
Saturday morning's alright for rugby.
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@Tim said in The Current State of Rugby:
@Crazy-Horse I like the idea of more penalty tries without cards.
Though there'd probably be a need to get the TMO to check there really was a 7-pont offence committed....
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@Nepia said in The Current State of Rugby:
Most games of rugby have been really good this year, well except for the live one I went (Blues v Tahs) which was awful.
I agree. The refereeing has been much, much better post-RWC (particularly the use of the TMO) and the games have been better as a result.
I don't want to ever see the level of inconsistent reffing and constant TMO interventions we saw at RWC2023 repeated.
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@Victor-Meldrew said in The Current State of Rugby:
@Nepia said in The Current State of Rugby:
Most games of rugby have been really good this year, well except for the live one I went (Blues v Tahs) which was awful.
I agree. The refereeing has been much, much better post-RWC (particularly the use of the TMO) and the games have been better as a result.
I don't want to ever see the level of inconsistent reffing and constant TMO interventions we saw at RWC2023 repeated.
Wait until the international season and end of year tours roll around
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@canefan said in The Current State of Rugby:
Wait until the international season and end of year tours roll around
Well, my opinion was shaped by the 6N's reffing - which I thought was a huge improvement.
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@Victor-Meldrew no no....he means the international season!
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Nigel Owens in agreement with South Africans as ex-referee bemoans World Rugby’s scrum proposal
Former Test referee Nigel Owens has voiced his concern that World Rugby risk "depowering" the scrum with their latest law proposals.
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@Bones said in The Current State of Rugby:
Former Test referee Nigel Owens has voiced his concern that World Rugby risk "depowering" the scrum with their latest law proposals.
What's wrong with depowering the scrum a little bit?
Two 400+kg front rows playing 40 mins each is doing what exactly to grow the game and make it a spectacle? Would a scrum not be just as good if both sides were 20kg per lighter per person and visibly knackered after 70 mins?
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The over arching point needs to be made that these changes are NOT removing the scrums as a weapon for a team. It's a legitimate part of the game the scrum, and one that teams should be looking to dominate the opposition & win penalties from. That should never be in doubt.
The rules are the same for everybody. IF you can now just focus on your front row being in a fit state to play for 80 minutes then you'll find the opposition do the same. If you select 400kg front rows, and they are shattered and unable to scrum after 40 mins, then thats fine too. However, you should expect the opposition to take on this glaring weakness in your preparation.
The elephant in the room though is how on earth do you stop gamesmanship with these rules.
That, I don't know.
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I always enjoy his articles
Luke Pearce's refereeing masterclass points the way towards rugby's future
The approach of talented English official Luke Pearce enhanced a fabulous match between Northampton and Saracens.
Was a great match
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was a great match and whilst i applaud some of Pearce's attitude and decisions to speed the game up (he made the caterpillar almost impossible to construct with two players in a line at the back of the ruck as he enforced the 5 second law properly) i fundamentally disagreed with him speeding Finn Smith up to take a kick - in the laws he has 90 seconds for a conversion, he is allowed to take them, but more importantly Pearce wouldn't have done that to Farrell and if he had done so, OF would have told him where to go.
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interestingly, speeding the ruck up properly made the box kick so much harder to execute as players were able to charge it down as the guards weren't in place and the scrum half didn't have as much room at the back of ruck. As people have suggested previously, if this was enforced in every game, rather than just on a Pearce whim then the box kick would become a genuine skill again
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@nzzp said in The Current State of Rugby:
@Bones said in The Current State of Rugby:
@Crazy-Horse said in The Current State of Rugby:
Five cards and counting in the one and half games I have watched today. There has got to be a better way. Who wants to watch games like these?
I'm still watching
I've really cut back my watching and attending games
Genuinely mate, is that just an age thing? I must admit I pretty well a tragic and even if things happen, laws change I watch and attend game all the time. The only change I have found , I don't watch as many games between Aus teams, since I been home , I find time not that flash and as knocking firmly on door of 70th birtday (couple of months) I find it slightly harder to be keen on staying up!!
But I will still stay up for kiwi teams playing in Aus!! -
@Dan54 said in The Current State of Rugby:
Genuinely mate, is that just an age thing?
nah I don't think so.
Both generations of watchers above and below me have pulled back as well - up to this year it just hasn't been a good product. The constant TMO and cards have done my nut - Rugby has been keener to get people off the field than keep them on. And watching 14 v 15 isn't usually a good competition.
The issue with cards at will is not the cards, but the non-cards. You see so much let go that makes you scratch your head - both with head highs, cleanouts and penalties in the 22. The inconsistency from week to week and inside games pisses me off. So I don't watch as much.
For an example, check out the RWC final right. Head contacts get RC or YC - and it fundamentally shifts who wins that game.
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club rugby has started again so all good with the world, we yelled and screamed at the ref...we bemoaned lost opportunities due to skill level...but end the end got to spend the day standing in the sun with mates and then had a few beers with the guys we were calling names not long before
Stuff