The Current State of Rugby
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@antipodean it's noticeable how many rucks he hits, definitely not avoiding contact
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@Crucial said in The Current State of Rugby:
@taniwharugby said in The Current State of Rugby:
@Kiwiwomble said in The Current State of Rugby:
hands on and your fair game
that was the way it used to be, have to say the past 3 or 4 years this whole dragging with foot then turned into pulling back with hands and positioning the ball for the pass/kick while blockers line up has become a joke.
No need for Law changes either.
Enforce that 'blockers' must stand clearly behind the last feet and not alongside the ruck with a finger bind (which isn't a bind by law). This cuts down the passing channel for the halfback and means they have to step back after lifting the ball.
You could also 'interpret' that players may not join a ruck once the ball is available. Refs already decide availability so this isn't a biggie.
Recent interpretations that have seen more 'ball is out' calls have helped but hinging calls on the half lifting the ball have resulted in this stupid dragging.Law 15.11 Once a ruck has formed, no player may handle the ball unless they were able to get their hands on the ball before the ruck formed and stay on their feet.
Apply this to halfbacks.
This just riled me up. Is there any law against counter-rucking those players? They're just standing there, so counter rucking them (since they're 'part of the ruck') would basically be tackling them wouldn't it? With the time the half backs take nowadays it feels like a viable strategy, if legal.
Or maybe it's just me getting itchy shoulders.
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@delicatessen said in The Current State of Rugby:
@Crucial said in The Current State of Rugby:
@taniwharugby said in The Current State of Rugby:
@Kiwiwomble said in The Current State of Rugby:
hands on and your fair game
that was the way it used to be, have to say the past 3 or 4 years this whole dragging with foot then turned into pulling back with hands and positioning the ball for the pass/kick while blockers line up has become a joke.
No need for Law changes either.
Enforce that 'blockers' must stand clearly behind the last feet and not alongside the ruck with a finger bind (which isn't a bind by law). This cuts down the passing channel for the halfback and means they have to step back after lifting the ball.
You could also 'interpret' that players may not join a ruck once the ball is available. Refs already decide availability so this isn't a biggie.
Recent interpretations that have seen more 'ball is out' calls have helped but hinging calls on the half lifting the ball have resulted in this stupid dragging.Law 15.11 Once a ruck has formed, no player may handle the ball unless they were able to get their hands on the ball before the ruck formed and stay on their feet.
Apply this to halfbacks.
This just riled me up. Is there any law against counter-rucking those players? They're just standing there, so counter rucking them (since they're 'part of the ruck') would basically be tackling them wouldn't it? With the time the half backs take nowadays it feels like a viable strategy, if legal.
Or maybe it's just me getting itchy shoulders.
You cant usually get to these 'pillars' without being ruled as not coming through the gate
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@Tim said in The Current State of Rugby:
@antipodean Rugbypass often has dodgy stats, so it may just be BS.
I don't know how exactly accurate it is but the theme is correct.
We were all saying BB was gunshy early on as he seemed to actively avoid contact (on both attack and defence)
The kicking thing seems coach driven so not really part of this IMO. -
Rivalries and passion - what NZ rugby can learn from Origin
Opinion - We're rolling into the Super Rugby Pacific's last regular season round, but while the match-ups are juicy, the focus this week for most fans is where it's been for the past couple of decades: on State Of Origin.
While I'm sick of the comparisons to league and especially the soap opera of Origin, and all the negativity towards rugby in our media, and I personally have enjoyed the majority of the rugby this year, I fully agree with this part of the article:
*In fact, the Hurricanes haven't even tweeted in almost a month while the Crusaders have simply listed a team sheet.
There have been plenty of grumblings from the Super Rugby teams' bosses over the negative coverage that the competition has had this year, and some of that discontent is fair enough.
But you must do something to get fans engaged other than just play good rugby. There's an entire undercurrent of sentiment to be stoked with this match, an entire stadium to be filled.
You don't need a massive advertising budget to tell your people that the team that is coming to town is there to be disliked, booed and jeered. Or that your own team is to be cheered, supported and invested in.
You just need people to do their jobs. The Hurricanes and Crusaders is a rivalry between two places that don't like each other anyway - it's not hard.*
Wasn't the whole idea of privatising the commercial arm of the franchises so that they would be able to better promote games as they'd have financial incentives to do so?
How can they not all employ competent social media managers? I could hire one from my friends group who has never been to a rugby match in her life and she could run it better than the chumps the franchises seem to employ.
Edit: I couldn't find the quote button, and the italic button seems to not work. The text between the * is from the article.
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@Kirwan said in The Current State of Rugby:
@Nepia blues Twitter account is hilarious
Who’s on Twitter?
Certainly not the ‘youth’
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@MiketheSnow wide range of people. Still too many crazies, but are easily filtered out.
And who cares where the youth are, mostly idiots.
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@Nepia its pretty stark comparison to other sports as far as promotion, good rugby might be what will get us down there....but not the casual fan, they want the hype
@MiketheSnow i do think there are still lots of people like myself that are on it but dont tweet, generally do it for live updates as it still works well for that, Wimbledon live tweets the games, which keeps people engaged when theyre doing something else
NZ rugby is pretty rubbish at things like supporters gear, jerseys...then maybe a beanie or cap and a scarf and thats it....so if its not the type of cap that suits you then tough luck, they make it tough to support you team even when you cant watch
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@Kiwiwomble said in The Current State of Rugby:
@Nepia its pretty stark comparison to other sports as far as promotion, good rugby might be what will get us down there....but not the casual fan, they want the hype
@MiketheSnow i do think there are still lots of people like myself that are on it but dont tweet, generally do it for live updates as it still works well for that, Wimbledon live tweets the games, which keeps people engaged when theyre doing something else
NZ rugby is pretty rubbish at things like supporters gear, jerseys...then maybe a beanie or cap and a scarf and thats it....so if its not the type of cap that suits you then tough luck, they make it tough to support you team even when you cant watch
we got given Caps on Saturday night. Caps never look good on me, combined with the beard it gives me a real “duck hunter” look. I much prefer Beanies or pesky blinder caps.
There was a bloody decent canes hoodie that my mate was wearing though, it was terrific.
I don’t think NZ rugby is rubbish though, there was a sea of Canes jerseys in the crowd.
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@MN5 said in The Current State of Rugby:
@Kiwiwomble said in The Current State of Rugby:
@Nepia its pretty stark comparison to other sports as far as promotion, good rugby might be what will get us down there....but not the casual fan, they want the hype
@MiketheSnow i do think there are still lots of people like myself that are on it but dont tweet, generally do it for live updates as it still works well for that, Wimbledon live tweets the games, which keeps people engaged when theyre doing something else
NZ rugby is pretty rubbish at things like supporters gear, jerseys...then maybe a beanie or cap and a scarf and thats it....so if its not the type of cap that suits you then tough luck, they make it tough to support you team even when you cant watch
we got given Caps on Saturday night. Caps never look good on me, combined with the beard it gives me a real “duck hunter” look. I much prefer Beanies or pesky blinder caps.
There was a bloody decent canes hoodie that my mate was wearing though, it was terrific.
I don’t think NZ rugby is rubbish though, there was a sea of Canes jerseys in the crowd.
Yeah, I think you can get lots of decent AB merch (I often get kids stuff for when my mates pop out sprogs), my issue is with promoting the actual games and seasons from the Super franchises themselves.
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@MN5 but jerseys are no good for lots of us that are just the wrong shape, sometimes you feel like a bit of a flog wearing a jersey around if you're not actually going to a game, you're just trying to show some support
Ab's do much more than the super teams but i think the ABs still do less than afl or football teams, i just think its an easy way to keep visibility up outside of the actual stadium
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@Kiwiwomble said in The Current State of Rugby:
@MN5 but jerseys are no good for lots of us that are just the wrong shape, sometimes you feel like a bit of a flog wearing a jersey around if you're not actually going to a game, you're just trying to show some support
Ab's do much more than the super teams but i think the ABs still do less than afl or football teams, i just think its an easy way to keep visibility up outside of the actual stadium
Round is still a shape bro, don’t let instagram fitness experts set unrealistic goals.
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I think the game is in a really bad place......
English clubs going belly up at an alarming rate.
International teams littered with poaches while local players who came up through the systems lose out.
Watching super rugby to empty stadiums. There is nothing worse than seeing the teams run out to empty stands. It's so deflating.
How are we supposed to think that this match matters, when nobody is there watching it live.
We are being sold a pup.
Rich countries like France and Japan poaching up and coming talent (faingaanuku et al) when it used to be the older players cashing in for retirement.
Im falling out of love with it all.
You follow a kid through NPC and Super Rugby hoping he makes it to international level and if the AB's don't show him immediate and everlasting love he drops his lip and ups sticks.....and potentially you see him wearing another nations colours 3/5 years later.
The lions being managed by a coach from a non lions nation.
The lions picking poaches like Ricky Flutey or Bundee Aki.
Puke.
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@Steve I'm not sure the empty stadiums are quite as much of an issue, however it may well be, as you say, it isn't a great look on TV, and with media painting a picture and then empty stadiums...?
I think the broadcast dollar rules, meaning the bums on seats matters little in that aspect, but rugby has moved off from being a big part of everyone's lives to people watching on TV if they don't have anything else on.
I know in my late teens-early 20s, a Friday night home game for northland was huge, we all went, smuggled a hip flask in, got sloshed and hit the town after
I personally haven't been to a super game for, I can't remember actually (but will probably be last time the Blues were up here, although don't think they have been here since 2013 which was my last super game at EP) but i go to every northland home game and the odd one away.
I watch club footy every week, so I still love the game, but I would say my interest from the top down has waned, particularly at super level, for the ABs, probably since 2019 things have been rocky in that relationship.
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@taniwharugby said in The Current State of Rugby:
probably since 2019 things have been rocky in that relationship.
2017 for me, found the media and fans around the Lions hard work. Post Lions I think the coaching and selection for the ABs really started to drop off
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@nzzp said in The Current State of Rugby:
@taniwharugby said in The Current State of Rugby:
probably since 2019 things have been rocky in that relationship.
2017 for me, found the media and fans around the Lions hard work. Post Lions I think the coaching and selection for the ABs really started to drop off
Yeah looking back that Lions series was a turning point for me too. I'd add the rush defence employed by the Lions to your list. Can't argue about how effective it was because it worked a treat, but for me it changed the way rugby was played ball in hand and I am not sure I like it. We (NZ) still haven't worked out how to play it apart from those annoying kicks.
