Rugby: Two things that must happen for the good of the game
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By Ian from NZ, 22 Mar 2009 The Crowd is a Roar Pro
- Tagged:
- Australian rugby, rucking, Rugby Union, SANZA, Super Rugby
There are two things that must happen for the good of the game of rugby. The first is to bring back the ruck.
In the words of Wynne Gray: “Perhaps they could also reintroduce RUCKS instead of those disgraceful pile-ups, eliminate tap kick penalties for scrum infringements and get players on side; however, that is another story”
Rugby has never recovered from the dilution of the traditional and intelligent rucking. Body pile ups are just awful and a blight on the game.
The slow ball from a pile up allows the field wide defense to get set up and hinder attack. It’s so obvious: bring back rucking (of course I dont mean rucking ones head or the family jewels, but all other body parts are fair game).
The second change: SANZAR ends. NZ and Aussie should go it alone.
The main reason is to get growth in Australasian rugby, that is where the real prize is.
Just imagine R=rugby in Australia being number one over ARL and NRL, that should be the goal (note: and I am a Kiwi).
Top rugby between New Zealand and Australia would have the same effect as North Island vs South Island games in NZ (ie Auckland vs Canterbury). These are very fierce clashes, and that’s how you get great players and great games.
SARFU ss 4 hours too far away and game viewing is time zone unfriendly. The money will flow into a true Australasian cup when sponsors realise that the idea will work.
It’s that easy.
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van der Merwe said | March 22nd 2009 @ 10:09am | Report comment
I think the ELVs should just be discarded outright.
stillmissit said | March 22nd 2009 @ 10:20am | Report comment
van der Merwe – It was interesting to hear what Robbie Deans had to say in answer to a question about the ELV’s and a rumour that the North will never accept them. He said that he didnt care what rules he plays under as long as they accept that the breakdown is a mess and cant be legislated away. His suggestion was that the ref should be able to do a short arm as a statement of ‘I dont know’ and give the kick to the attacking team. He also felt this was most likely too pragmatic to be accepted.
stillmissit said | March 22nd 2009 @ 10:25am | Report comment
Ian – I cant agree with you although there is some common sense ie time differences in your article.
I played in SA for 3 years and the intensity and raw need to play against the Kiwi’s and then the Aussies was almost unbelieveable. If this break happens then I think all southern hemisphere teams will suffer. A local S14 tournament with a tour at the end is what is proposed to offset this time difference and it may have some merit.
Regarding the ruck we are all totally united in the belief that losing this was a bad day in our history and a testament to short sightedness and a need to appease certain areas of criticism from outside of the rugby world mainly. It will never come back and we will be old dinosours talking about when we played the game and you could legally ruck someone.
sledgeandhammer said | March 22nd 2009 @ 10:52am | Report comment
The problem with the ELVs is that they’ve shown the emperor has no clothes. The players can no longer blame the laws for their lack of invention, and poor skills, both in the set piece and open play. Teams like the Waratahs just don’t play to their potential, regardless of the laws. How can you blame the laws on collapsed scrums, dropped ball, kicks out on the full, passes behind the man etc?
stillmissit said | March 22nd 2009 @ 11:06am | Report comment
sledgeandhammer – you have beaten this one down to its basic truth. Great observation!
LeftArmSpinner said | March 22nd 2009 @ 11:58am | Report comment
ian, While it would solve the problem, and would bring people back to the game, rucking is gone forever. I like the pragmatic approach from Dingo. As argued here, I also like early yellows to remove the cynical breakdown stuff. ‘nough said on that.
I am not so convinced about the supposed lack of players to fill a comp of teams in an Australasian comp. I think that they are there, particularly if you open it to the Pacific Islanders. In broad terms, this is the ARU plan B, as I understand it. I just want more local derbies, that then culminate in a longer finals series.
But, lets start economically sound, ’cause things are going to get rougher in the next year or so. 5 teams from AUst and 5 from NZ, and one from each of Japan and Pacific Islanders, and with a Free to Air TV component (At least one game and a highlights programme).
WorkingClassRugger said | March 22nd 2009 @ 2:34pm | Report comment
A Pacific based comp would be a goer. The opportunities to gain a FTA agreement is greater now than ever with the advent of Freeview. Not everyone has HD TV’s yet. But its a start. It would also allow Rugby to get some of our domestic product on FTA.
Ben C said | March 22nd 2009 @ 4:38pm | Report comment
An interesting point, my boss has two sons in U15 and U13 rugby. They are being taught this year (and it may be just the local competition, I’m not sure) that the new interpretation of the ELV’s is that:
(1) the tackler must immediately roll away or get to his feet. If the tackler doesn’t (even if he is trapped and can’t roll out) it is an immediate short arm penalty.
(2) with the exception of the tackled player and the tackler (who must immediately roll away or get up) any player who enters the breakdown (whether attacking or defending) and who goes off their feet is an immediate short arm penalty.
The kids have been told that no player can flop over the ball whether attacking team or defending team. The kids have picked it up quickly and there has been a return to limited rucking as the ball is on the ground, there should be no players lying in the way and the players at the breakdown and trying to drive forward and step over the ball and hook it back with their feet. I haven’t seen it but if true this would be a drastic improvement short of a return to full rucking. Further the referee apparently has a better view of the ball because players aren’t lying everywhere so he can pick up infringements easier.
I think it would be interesting for this interpretation of the ELV’s trialled to see if it clears up the breakdown which is currently the biggest blight on the game (both players infringing and referees offering unintelligible rulings).
allblackfan said | March 22nd 2009 @ 10:08pm | Report comment
I hail from Fiji. I am very well acquainted with the rugby system over there and goals of players.
This idea of using individual Islander players is fraught with danger, not least because the NZRFU, ARU and NRL clubs (and even the goddamn AFL) will most likely swoop on their brightest and best.
If the idea is eventually to bring in a Pacific Island national side, it may not be enough because for the best of their players, they can still make more money playing for the Wallabies or the All Blacks then they ever will for Fiji or Samoa or Tonga so they may be less likely to jeopardise their future money-making potential by playing for their homeland.
Money is a major motivating factor for these players but not the only one. There is much mana to be gained from playing for a team like, say, the All Blacks.
PS: Glad to see Eaton dishing out some old-fashioned rugby justice to Bakkies Botha on Friday night. Too bad Matt Goddard is too much of an idiot to realise that rucking is still legally part of the game. The IRB has not banned the practice (have they?)