The Current State of Rugby
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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
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More good news IMO
Rugby: World Rugby announces law changes designed to increase entertainment value | Newshub
It will also trial 20-minute sanctions for red cards and a shot clock for scrums and lineouts, as per Super Rugby Pacific.
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Not sure about this one
"the ability to mark the ball inside the 22 from a restart"
Makes the game less of a contest IMHO.
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I think the aim is to make long kickoffs less attractive. In theory that should encourage shorter contestable kickoffs
Not sure if it will work
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So you can’t call a scrum from a free kick. So if you have a piss weak scrum, just pre-engage early and the opposition can’t call for another scrum from the free kick?
Obviously goes to penalties If you keep doing that, but surely there are all sorts of unintended consequences for a change like that
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@Machpants said in The Current State of Rugby:
More good news IMO
Rugby: World Rugby announces law changes designed to increase entertainment value | Newshub
It will also trial 20-minute sanctions for red cards and a shot clock for scrums and lineouts, as per Super Rugby Pacific.
I applaud the intention, but there's a risk it'll make the laws even more complex and difficult to ref/follow.
EDIT: Just read the corporate wank:
the governing body also announced their plan “seeks to increase rugby’s accessibility and relevance among a broader, younger fanbase by embracing on-field innovation and reimagined presentation of the sport with compelling storytelling”
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@KiwiMurph said in TRC U20 - NZ v Australia:
@antipodean said in TRC U20 - NZ v Australia:
I just turned it off if that's worthy of a YC.
Dramatic much.
Possibly - depends on your POV. After the RWC final I've just got utterly sick of cards being handed out like confetti. And I'm not excited by the prospect of a team overcoming the disadvantage. It doesn't add to the spectacle for me.
If you don't jump that's what happens.
I know that but I don't agree. It makes no sense to me that a player in a position to make a legal catch is penalised because an opposing player thinks he's Baryshnikov. At no point did the sent off player tackle the player in the air and in mind it raises the following questions:
- Just how far off the ground do you need to be to alleviate the risk some officious clown decides to make himself the centre of attention?
- How long do you need to be stationary before the player charging at you is the one penalised. A split second?
The game isn't better for these interjections. But we see above WR is congratulating itself for trialling shot clocks.
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NH scribes getting it. Very interesting point about the damage from hundreds of minor impacts versus the obvious big ones that get carded
Another final tarnished as Obano’s red card a blight on rugby’s integrity | Michael Aylwin
Northampton suffer as much in the reckoning as question marks will linger over whether they would have won with numbers even
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@Machpants said in The Current State of Rugby:
NH scribes getting it. Very interesting point about the damage from hundreds of minor impacts versus the obvious big ones that get carded
Another final tarnished as Obano’s red card a blight on rugby’s integrity | Michael Aylwin
Northampton suffer as much in the reckoning as question marks will linger over whether they would have won with numbers even
Agree that RCs should be reserved for acts of foul play, and clear cut recklessness. Anything that needs to be looked at over and over again in slo mo should not be an offence to be considered for a RC
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Interesting comparison, esp as I didn't realise the Top 14 had rolling subs!
Should rugby take the road less travelled?
The season denouements threw up a plethora of rugby styles and stories - but which will prevail in the months ahead?
