The 2010 rugby season is shaping up to be a cracker

Well I'll sit on the fence as to whether rugby is better this year than last year. I think many Waratah supporters have a biased view about last year, ie. it was a dud. I didn't mind watching the Bulls and Boks kick because I have never seen such intimidating, towering and accurate punting of a rugby ball whether by union or league. The Boks were terrific. The final game in NZ between the Boks and All Blacks was rugby at the highest level. The Bulls were superb and destroyed their opponents in the final. There were other positives in 09. The Force won all the local derbies including a win in Sydney and the Wallabies ended the year with close to the strongest scrum in the world; who would have credited that. As to the negatives the resetting of scrums is a massive blight on the game. I have finally come up with a suggestion as to fixing it. Stop the clock from the time the ref calls a scrum until the ball is out of it. That way no team gains an advantage by collapsing a scrum and they know that the ref is under no pressure to get the game going again because no time is being lost. I'm happy to hear any other suggestions. What I am looking forward to in 2010 are: The return of the Link. Yes, McKenzie. Let's hope all teams have a relatively injury free year. Watching Hickey sort out his backline. How do I fit Beale, Halangahu, Barnes into it. Ummmmm. Seeing the Wallabies finally beat the All Blacks without jet lag or scheduling playing a part. The final horrah of a fantastic Bok team. Matfield, Botha, Smit, Habana, du Preez, Steyne. The return from Europe of the old All Black guard. The rising vibe of the NZ World Cup. I thought is was too much for them. But having spent three weeks there for a summer holiday what does it matter if there aren't any hotels, we can sleep on the lawn, on the beach, under a tarp, bloody hell it's going to be amazing. Yeah 2010 might be a bit better than 2009 but the future always is! Good luck to all players and coaches. Be good sports!

“that’ll see him play till his legs go from under him” ... more like minute 2-3 of game one - he he! I can't see Barnes coming back to the Reds... and definitely don't want Mitchell.

Here is the test rank the order of finihing of the Australian francises Waratahs 3rd/ Brumbies 4th / reds9th / Force 10th

I think the real test will be which Australian franchise will be competing hardest for player retention with the incoming rebels. I think the Reds might start moving up ( they cannot possibly underperform again ..five years is a long time in the bottom 5). Force have dropped aplace each year for the last three years. Although they perform well against the Australian franchises they may unfortunately be on the decline at a bad time . The Brumbies if they keep their experienced players on the park ( three Australian captains in your squad is pretty good) may be very dangerous although their squad may be aging at the wrong time. The Waratahs as always could do anything best to keep quiet although their access to depth may as always give them some protection. Timing is everything . You do not want to be rebuilding a squad at the same time as the Rebels are rebuilding theres nor being unsuccessful.

I'll go with the Highlanders

Even the diehard Union supporters on this thread are confused as to what rule changes or 'interpretations' are going to be made, and who is going to use them. Then we have the commentators being slammed because they don't know the rules, who in the main are ex-players. What hope does the casual viewer of the game have to know what is going on?

Hang on Spiro. Let me just replay what you wrote: "The new SANZAR regulations on the tackled ball and scrum areas came after consultation officials, players, referees and players. A coach and a referee from each of the SANZAR countries nutted out the regulations which have been agreed to by all the franchises and SANZAR unions. My understanding, too, is that these regulations will come into play in the northern hemisphere with the Six Nations tournament. Let’s not have another argument, therefore, over the southern hemisphere trying to ram things down the throat of the northern hemisphere countries." So you are saying they are new SANZAR regulations. You state that they arose with consultation with officials, players, refs, etc. But which ones - SANZAR only? You say that they were agreed to by the franchises and SANZAR unions - but were they run by the NH unions? Your understanding is that they will come into play in the 6 Nations tournament. I presume you mean the 2011 tourney? There has been this wooly statement that says they'll be intorduced in the NH, but no specifics on by who, when, and on what terms? I haven't used the phrase 'ram down the throat', but it's a fair question to ask: What consultation, if any, was there with the NH unions on these 'new SANZAR regulations'? Why are they being introduced now for SANZAR, and being left to the 6 Nations next year - which occurs in the middle of the NH season - this seems nonsensical. Are they being used in the June tests? Or will they be under 'old rules' in order to accommodate the NH unions? Are they being used in the November tests? Or will they be played under the 'old rules'? Why is there no mention of these new regulations on the IRB website? Who specifically says when these 'new regulations' will be introduced in the NH?

The new interpretation is a good step but only halfway. when i played once you were tackled you could no longer move. As a result the both the tackled player and tacker rolled away (ok also becuase of the use of the boot as well, but thats naother story) and there was a fair contest These days, the tackled player can continue to crawl along the ground until "held", which must have crept into the game from league, and therefore the tackler gonto him for longer, and inevitably gets trapped. A few years ago when there was a crackdown on not rolling way, tacklers being (unfairly) penalised for not rolling away became an issue. as with any rule change there are going to be plenty of penalties in the adjustment period. I hope it works smoothly this time. I agree with Spiro and OJ comments above. the fox sports commentators need to sell the product a bit better, show a bit more enthusiasm , celebrate the diversity of the teams playing which other sports dont have . you often get the feeling they wish they were calling another sport.

The Bulls certainly played some entertaining rugby last season. The exect opposite of the tahs. Which team will be the surprise package of 2010? Perhaps the Stormers?

The seasons are so long these days that I think it's better to take it one game at a time than making any wild predictions. I have my doubts over whether the new tackle law will make a difference. The only way to get the running rugby that people want is for the tackler to have no rights to the ball. Can't see that happening.

Totally agree about the commentating and coverage. If you log on to ESPN.com and look at the coverage of today's AFC and NFC championship deciders in the NFL, the hype for these championship games is matched only by the endless amount of analysis. The Super 14 may be chicken feed compared to the NFL, but the sheer amount of knowledge from journalists and NFL fans about *other teams* is the point I'd like to highlight. If you ask me, commentators and journalists in Australia and New Zealand don't do enough research about the sides outside their countries. The South Africans are slightly better in this regard, but you can't hype up a visiting side unless you know something about them. For most of us, the only South African players we're familiar with are those who play for the Springboks but you could guarantee that NFL fans know who's who around the league. There may not be much SANZAR can do to control the way the Super 14 is broadcast, but if they want the competition to be important then it starts with the men in the booth and filters out to the media.

15000 rugby fans get money’s worth 2010/01/25 Chumani Bambani SPORTS REPORTER bambanic@avusa.co.za AN impressive 15000- strong crowd turned out to witness a heroic effort by an Eastern Province Invitation XV give the Vodacom Cheetahs a scare when they held the Super 14 outfit to a 13-9 score line at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on Saturday. A surprisingly large number of tickets were sold on match day after only 7000 had been sold by Friday for the pre-season friendly. Eastern Province Rugby chief executive Anele Pamba said: “The people of Port Elizabeth and the Eastern Cape community have come out and shown that they support us and proven that they are hungry for rugby. “They want to see more games being played here in the province. “We could not believe it when we had 8000 tickets being sold in one day. It shows that there is a lot of interest from the people. “When we can get 15000 people coming to watch a friendly match, imagine the numbers if we could have bigger matches played here.” The home supporters got their money’s worth as EP put in a Herculean effort against a side that included Springbok players Jongi Nokwe, Juan Smith and Heinrich Brussow. Captain and centre De Wet Barry led from the front, while flanker Zolani Mofu had an outstanding game among the forwards. An even bigger crowd is expected when EP take on Argentina at the stadium on February 27 in another friendly game. “I don’t see why we cannot get at least 40000 people coming to watch the Argentina game,” said Pamba. “There are signs that we can expect to see great things in this province.” http://www.weekendpost.co.za/article.aspx?id=522652

The breakdown is also the area that needs to be cleaned up the most if you are to grab more of the casual supporter. It is one of the biggest turn offs in the game. Though it's a job that I would hate to have, as it is hard to please everybody.

Which was precisely why they tried to encourage competition for the ball at the breakdown, but it is more likely they will just see endless recycling hoping to draw the penalty. You get the feeling they are just blind lab rats responding to the latest stimuli, alternating to and fro betwen two sucky outcomes. Maybe they will eventually strike the right balance, and all will be sunshine and light until two referees have slightly different interpretations. Or pehaps they will just decide which of either constant competition+kicking or assured recycling+penalties is least unpalatable and just stick with it. But in all likelihood, after a few more years of tedium, they will start the whole process over of trying to find a set of breakdown laws that are not completely labyrinthine, can be evenhandedly administered without requiring too much creative interpretation and (least likely) are acceptable to everyone. But just like last time this is likely to be a long expensive waste of time. For mine, there is actually a good chance that this issue will be a constant as it is simply not possible to resolve the complexity of a constant contest with the simplicity that would be necessary to achieve a consistently clean and law-abiding breakdown. If that is the case, perhaps we all need to go back to focusing on the positives of the game we love and stop constantly agonising over perceived negatives.

From a diiferent angle - Last year the defensive side was given more latitude, thus encouraging players into the ruck. This in turn encouraged (forced) more attacking players into the ruck. The result being that when the ball did come out there is room to run. This year the focus is on the defensive side doing everything right. The possible result being the defnsive side now don't bother to attack the ruck and just line up and defend. In return the attacking team do not need to attack the ruck meaning they too have more players in the attacking line. The result being a clogged attack fronting a 13 man wall with no chance of getting through. What will the attacking team do? Continue to run at said wall until the penaly or knock on against them occurs. Or will they kick it down field and setup their own wall, hoping for said penalty?

The big variable for 2010 is the performance of the Wallabies, who had a mediocre season in 2009 and were at times dreadful. When the Wallabies start performing strongly, the problems apparently facing rugby will seem much less. I'm not sure what came out of the O'Neill-Deans review of 2009, but it can only be hoped that changes are made leading to on field improvement.

Not quite what they've said Lee. It is not different interpretations for attacking or defensive styles, it is a focus first on the defending team regardless of who they are. What they mean is first look to tacklers rolling away etc before worrying about releasing the ball etc. Mind you, it seems a bit odd that they would tell a referee to "favour" anything. Frankly, it would appear a clear admission that the laws governing the breakdown are far too complicated if they don't feel a single Super 14 referee, by definition counted among one of best in the world, can administer the laws as written and have to focus on some things in preference to others...

Really enjoyed your article Spiro, as usual. Maybe I'm just what they call in the UK an 'anorak', or in Australia a rugby tragic, (or others could say a nitpicker!) but I think there are currently six local derby games for Australian Super 14 sides and not the three as you say. Three for each Australian team at present, of course, and eight for each Australian team from 2011, which you correctly state will bring 20 local derbies in total for Australian sides from 2011.

The only Oz team to have a chance at the finals in 2010 will be NSW, but no further than the semis, if that, as they will play it away. Brumbies will be about 6th (they don't have a good enough halves pairing) then Reds and Force down at 10th-ish or worse. I wish I could share Spiro's enthusiasm, but it happens every year because we forget about the depth and improvement in the SA and NZ teams. The general standard of the S14 comp improves faster than the Oz teams. The Reds jersey is positively repugnant. I would never buy the stuff on the Reds store. Seriously, who comes up with this rubbish? I am going to make my own hoodie a la Abercombie and Finch and I will use maroon with navy.