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I am a SFS member, I can get there easily and I love rugby. Yet I frequently spurn the chance to go. Why? It has little or nothing to do with the way the Waratahs play, or even whether they are winning or not.
It is the whole package that makes me reluctant.
What is the whole package I refer to?
1) Incessant long stoppages.
2) Trainers all over the field.
3) Re-setting scrums that each take a minute to bind.
4) “Short arm penalties” being allowed to be scrums rather than free kicks.
5) Pedantic referees who police the laws (inconsistently, badly and error prone) rather than the game.
6) Poor policing of the 10 metre rule denying effectiveness of the quick tap. (And of course pedantic refereeing also resulting in quick taps becoming yet another series of scrums.)
The best-to-watch rugby we have seen in recent times was the lamented one season that ARC was the first under the experimental rules – all of the rules. No free kicks were converted to scrums. It was 80 minutes of attack. The players and the spectators loved it.
You would fill the Stadium every week for that.
But if that is not an option, cut down the stoppages, make “short arms” into “free kicks”, get rid of the trainers (if necessary, have one drinks break at the 20 minute mark), and require the instructors of referees to inculcate that the game is the thing, not them.
Until then, give me a good schoolboys game any day.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.