It’s time to commit to running rugby again
Roar Guru By Rickety Knees, 6 Aug 2009 Rickety Knees is a Roar Guru
- Tagged:
- All Blacks, goal kicking, IRB, Morne Steyne, Rugby Union, Springboks
More and more, rugby is competing with other sports for a slice of television’s revenue pie. Whether the dottering old fools of the IRB (who awarded New Zealand the next RWC because they hadn’t forgotten Japan’s involvement in WW2) care to admit that is an entirely different matter.
Our Northern Hemisphere cousins effectively killed the ELVs with a misinformation campaign that at times defied belief. But they got away with it and it delivered their desired result – the return to kickathon rugby.
The abandonment of ELVs has seen rugby become a goal-kicking spectacle once more.
Witness the last Test between the All Blacks and the Springboks, with Morne Steyne kicking goals from everywhere to single-handedly win the game.
Match results have returned once more to the whim of a referee and destroyed the game as a spectacle.
As a player, nothing irritated more than losing a match where we had scored more tries but our goal-kicker had left his boots at home. Somehow it felt as if an injustice had been done.
Conversely, winning by penalties when the opposition had scored more tries equally did not feel quite right.
It is time to think outside of the square.
To return to running rugby, I believe that it is time to stop kicks at goal from penalties. Couple this with field goals being reduced to one point, this will see a quick return to running rugby.
This can be achieved without changing the rules of the game, whilst minimising the referee’s impact on results.
Using this method will see the team scoring the most tries winning the game. Where tries are even, conversions will make the difference, and where tries and conversions are equal, it will then come down to a one point field goal to decide the game.
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- Explore:
- All Blacks, goal kicking, IRB, Morne Steyne, Rugby Union, Springboks
August 6th 2009 @ 5:30pm
Working Class Rugger said | August 6th 2009 @ 5:30pm | Report comment
Reduce all penalties to 1 point. That way their is no advantage in kicking for goal. Unless its an absolute crunch situation the obvious decision would be to play it. Drop goals and conversion can remain the same.
As for cynical play close to the line. Well anything within 10m of the tryline is an automatic penalty try. Before any NH roarer’s comment, I’m only suggesting that the SH nations play these rule adjustments.
August 6th 2009 @ 7:14pm
retired rucker said | August 6th 2009 @ 7:14pm | Report comment
OJ, James and Andy,
All good ideas. I like the idea of combining OJ’s only in the 22 for all standard penatlies(3 points), and anywhere for foul play penalties. making the fiels goal 1 point is also a ripper.
Now heres how it works, NZ and Austalia and any other country that wants to participate changes the rules in its local and national comps. Then it tells all nations that want to tour or want us come to them that we will only play under these rules. If no one wants to play NZ and Aus can form a break away union and play bledisloes untill other nations see the light! In 1 to 2 years everybody will be onboard when they see the spectacle created!
August 6th 2009 @ 7:47pm
Neil said | August 6th 2009 @ 7:47pm | Report comment
Perhaps you should commit to winning rugby again rather.
People like watching a team that wins. That don’t like watching a bunch of headless chickens pass to nobody all afternoon and make 20 handling errors a game.
August 6th 2009 @ 9:33pm
AC said | August 6th 2009 @ 9:33pm | Report comment
Penalty goals only being an option when the infringement is in the 22 is a great idea. Maintenance of possession when kicking into touch for infringements outside the 22 should be kept with this.
Originally, all goals were worth only 1pt. Why not make all goals equal again? It’s consistent if nothing else.
Also, perhaps we could take a leaf out of American Football’s book and add the option of a scrum restart from the 22 after a try, with the scoring team getting the feed? So a converted try can be another try or a kicked goal.
August 6th 2009 @ 9:40pm
Neil said | August 6th 2009 @ 9:40pm | Report comment
changing the points is going to make no difference whatsoever. you guys would have better luck banning kicking for goals if you insist that rugby is a game about scoring tries…
which it patently isn’t.
rugby is a game in which the score is designed to reflect a domination in territory, tactics and possession. not which team managed to score the most tries.
tries are a result of tactics, good possession and territorial domination. they are not the product to which the game is geared.
if you guys can learn to appreciate this, you will see that in fact there is nothing wrong with rugby.
August 6th 2009 @ 9:44pm
Neil said | August 6th 2009 @ 9:44pm | Report comment
seriously. you guys should rather go watch league and leave union to the people who can appreciate it for what it actually is
it’s not anybody’s fault other than your own that you have failed to appreciate the sport for what it is.
August 6th 2009 @ 9:53pm
AC said | August 6th 2009 @ 9:53pm | Report comment
Neil,
As someone on either this thread or another said, golf changed the lengths of its fairways to accommodate changes in ball and club technology. I think rugby needs to do similarly — limit the capabilities of rugby balls to bring the balance back at the pro level. The laws of the game were formulated when the ball technology made it pretty difficult to score goals from anywhere further than say 25 metres out from the try line.
Limiting the ball technology is definitely something that should’t be ruled out. It’s also dead easy to implement at all levels of the game if indeed that’s required.
August 6th 2009 @ 9:57pm
Neil said | August 6th 2009 @ 9:57pm | Report comment
My only point is that rugby should hold fast to it’s core as much as possible.
It should never be a game designed with the sole purpose of scoring tries in mind. This is what rugby league is.
Any suggestions to improve the sport need to be made with the Union ethos in mind. Alot of random, and in my opinion silly, suggestions on the future of the sport on this site are very much based on a ‘score more tries’ approach.
It’s not the way to go, and has the potential to ruin the sport in my opinion. Let’s just stick to what it is. Huge kicks are friggin awesome, they pin the opponents back and are a key aspect of territorial domination. Why on earth would you want to remove that tactic from Union is beyond me.
August 6th 2009 @ 10:08pm
AC said | August 6th 2009 @ 10:08pm | Report comment
Neil,
League is I’m afraid to say, consistently a better viewing product than Union at the top level. I play amateur Union and love it. But what makes rugby great to play at amateur level I feel doesn’t translate into the best professional product.
August 6th 2009 @ 10:45pm
Neil said | August 6th 2009 @ 10:45pm | Report comment
Well, not in my opinion, I much much much prefer rugby union and find league to be the most boring thing in the world. Even at the highest levels.
Personally I feel no need to change either. If you prefer the league ethos, well … I think you can guess what I’m going to say next.