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The opening Bledisloe Cup match should have been called Ice Age 4, Return of the Dinosaurs. But this would be misleading. At least in the Ice Age movies the dinosaurs are animated, which is more than could be said of test match Rugby.
Given the early timeslot of the Test, it almost followed on directly from ABC’s club Rugby match of the day.
The effect was like stepping off the Big Dipper, and jumping straight onto the Ferris Wheel. As a viewer you went from non stop action which seemed to never end, to a stop start affair in which so little happened that if you blinked, you missed it.
So why was the test match Rugby so uninspiring? The answer is obvious and controversial – too many penalties.
Mercifully in the club rugby the sanctions rule still applies, and so players are not routinely penalised for trying to play rugby.
In yesterday’s test match, players were penalised for collapsed scrums (which hadn’t even collapsed), for not releasing the ball, not staying on their feet, not rolling away from the ball, deliberately slapping the ball, and a plethora of other perplexing indiscretions, most of which had nothing to do with the flow of play.
Forget the cliches, this was not akin to chess, or any other intellectual pursuit, it was quite the opposite as all things petty and arbitrary by definition are.
Ironically, one of the few free kicks given was for Palu not tapping the ball on his foot, which sums up the childish level of this match.
Of course, some people may argue they actually enjoy the sound of the pea being blown out of a whistle.
But be warned. If the Rugby world keeps serving up such limited pickings it will very soon go the way of the dinosaurs. And as a former rugby tragic, I for one won’t shed a tear.
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.