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It was a wet, cool afternoon in Auckland this Saturday. The clouds hung low (fittingly for the start of duck-shooting season), and it was a grey affair. A bit like the Northern Hemisphere. And that’s how the rugby was, too.
The recent IRB meeting, as we know, ditched most of the ELVs, which were designed to speed up the game by reducing the number of penalties issued at the breakdown and scrum.
The Southern Hemisphere countries embraced the rules, as indeed they have most progressive rule changes over the years. (Remember that the kicking-out-on-the-full-from-outside-the-22-metre rule was once known as the ‘Australian variation’ – not the ‘Stephen-Jones-Memorial-Old-Fartonions-Will-Carling-English variation’)
So to the afternoon.
I wandered along to Western Springs to see Ponsonby play Grammar-Carlton in a premier club rugby match. Both were top ranked teams (Ponsonby being perennial champions and one of the most decorated clubs in New Zealand rugby).
Admittedly the weather made the rugby more dour than normal. But the reversion to the non-ELV rules was striking. The wet conditions made for numerous penalties at the breakdown and scrum, for all the normal reasons – hands on the ball, bodies on the ground, scrum collapsing, an so on.
The game was slow, with stoppages frequent, and limited action. It was remarkable for a game involving Ponsonby – who, like Randwick in Sydney, are a team renowned for running rugby.
What was clear to all was that, with the ELVs and the subsequent quick tap, play continued immediately. Often it was prosaic, but at least it was quick.
Thanks to the IRB, Stephen Jones and all those advocates of ‘proper rugby’. all those little misdemeanours are now, again, full-arm penalties. Instead of the quick tap, players amble back, water bottles come on, the team awarded the penalty gets slowly onside, minutes ebb away, and someone either takes yet another shot at goal or kicks for touch.
It was most definitely prosaic, and dead slow.
Maybe the Southern Hemisphere should do what the Australians (and us New Zealanders, somewhat later) once did, and adopt a Southern Hemisphere variation? Maybe we should keep the short-arm penalty for ruck-maul misdemeanours for club, provincial, Super 14, and even Tri-Nations Tests.
Adapting to IRB rules when we play those Northern excitement machines won’t be difficult (as the results from last November’s European tests showed). And we might at least see some quick footy, prosaic or not.
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.