Mindful of rugby’s collapsing support a couple of years back; the Rugby authorities finally addressed the issue, namely too many petty rules resulting in games being constantly interrupted by the bloody referee blowing his whistle.
This was borne out by a NZ Herald sports reporter early this century who armed with a stop-watch reported that with a provincial match he’d been watching, and over the 80 minutes duration, a total of a mere 12 minutes of play actually occurred.
The reforms have made a massive difference and rugby is now a worthwhile spectacle. BUT, with one exception.
That is the bloody scrums which waste so much time and allow a whistle-happy referee license to take centre-stage.
So therein lies the last necessary reform to make rugby a great spectacle, namely get rid of the scrums.
Currently a minor infringement such as a knock-on sees a scrum set and 5 or more minutes wasted. The non-infringement side put the ball in and invariably recover it.
So instead of all of that palaver, just award a free kick.
Apart from the spectator benefit this would have the added advantage of making rugby, as it once was, a game for slim athletic types rather than as currently, the domain of massive giants who would have difficultly keeping up with the non-stop action.
14 Comments
All too late to save the game sadly, The massive proliferation of new non-contact pastimes for youngsters with no HIA are causing a death by a thousand cuts to the game. Rightly so too, as it can’t compare to The Beautiful Game and it’s burgeoning following in NZ and globally
Doing away with the accidental knock-on would speed things up a lot more.
The beautiful game? Where grown men writhe around on the grass when an opposition player stands on their bootlace.
Scrum is here to stay…might I suggest an improvement could be for scrums only being used within the 22 metre mark of the paddock, where it can be used as an attacking weapon…
Lets not forget professional sport is there to appease the masses, who have very little else to look forward to..
The players who are not in the scrum are also pretty big these days. If Barry John, Mike Gibson, Gareth Edwards and Gareth Davies turned up to a rugby game today, they would be directed towards the referees/linesmen changing rooms.
The last game of rugby I ever watched was with my Grandfather at Athletic park in 1981, Wellington versus Auckland, I remember vividly, both ebony and Ivory ( Bernie Fraser and Stu Wilson ) on each wing and big tall Murray Mexted in the line out.
I lost all interest in rugby many years ago and turned to rugby league during the Winfield cup years for the exact reasons you listed, such as constant whistle blowing by the referee.
I think you should stick to League or Aussie rules if you want a faster game.
Rugby without scrums? Unthinkable.
Rugby is an easy game- so easy for any player to break the myriad of confusing rules
I’ve come to believe that the referees are as entertaining as the players . Arguing about the decisions made is a core rugby skill.
If you want supporters back, get rid of half the teams, have better quality games and more local derbys.
Rugby league scrums are much more efficient. The forwards bunch together, some still with their heads up, the halfback puts the ball under the second rower’s feet and the ball is out within a couple of seconds, essentially giving the same outcome as a rugby union scrum that can take several minutes.
It’s financial and TV burden that “DEI” (diversity, equity and inclusion) that’s destroying rugby and other sports.
How is DEI damaging Rugby?
Simple, there is a finite amount of money in the game. Women have gatecrashed the management,broadcasting, commentary and every aspect of the once mens game for a share of the spoils and contributed very little in return.Now there’s nowhere near enough to go round and the future of our once proud national game is done with. Couple that with a dreadfully weak and woke management and you find yourself where you currently are. Stuffed
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