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Rugby is going through a rebuilding process, after experimentation with laws and interpretations, as well as disastrous sentiment from the public.
Much of this tumultuous half of a decade has been blamed on the emergence of kicking as a preferred method of scoring, avoiding the breakdown, which has developed as a home place for the defending side.
With a new focus on the attacking side, old style rugby is set to return to the forefronts of the game.
But as always, we must look beyond this to a permanent change to the game, rather than base it on referee’s interpretation, which over time can fall back into old habits.
One answer to this is infusing it with some Sevens, and dropping the place kick.
Removing the place kick would not only remove downtime from the game, and make kicking a faster process, but it would also make a penalty kick harder for the offensive team, meaning greater incentive to play the ball in hand.
This would also defeat the argument by rugby conservatives that any change in laws is the league-ing up of our game.
This would not make sense to those who think the current system is working but the fact is it isn’t, and introducing a single style of scoring would simplify the rule book and speed up the game. Pair this with a reduction in penalty goal points and it reduces the rules even more.
It would mean that the kickers would have a specific style of kicking to focus on, and would act faster. One problem that could be seen over time would be the close perfection of the drop kick, as has been seen with the penalty kick. But the difference would be that the game down time would be reduced and a quick kick would most likely emerge over any lingering currently seen with place kicks.
Dropping the place kick would one change to speed up the game. Above all else, though, is the possibility of simplifying the game, paired with the prospect speeding up of it.
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.