Complicated rules have been a fact of rugby, and many other sports, since their inception, mainly based on the variety of rules used before the official sanctioning of a law book. A focus of this is the league fan criticising the over-complication of the rules in union.
There is an easy way to fix this, the IRB could easily recruit marketing, communication and legal experts into a panel, to rewrite the Rugby Rule book (keeping rules with different wordings). Streamline it, if you will.
I am sure that with careful precision, any law book could be simplified (and a few finalised ELV’s possibly added).
The integration and streamlining of rules, rulings and referees etiquette is how people could finally understand rugby, from an outside view. This isn’t to say that the rules should be changed yet again, but the clarification of all things, to all people is part of product design.
There is a topic in Industrial design called Design for manufacture and assembly. This outlook on product design, is talking about the integration and simplification of parts, using similar materials and reducing manufacture times. It doesn’t manipulate the function of the product, nor the way it works usually, but does simplify what it’s made of.
All in all, this concept behind the design of a product sets out a clear path to where it is heading, and what to do with it after its use. A similar function is needed within the laws of Rugby.
Currently on the IRB website there are three parts to the laws and regulations category; laws of the game, regulations and law rulings.
Why can none of these aspects affecting the play of the game be integrated into a simple, single product?
One can somewhat understand how the traditional white class has effected this game. Much like normal laws, no one knows and understands the full set.
But the way it has run for well over a hundred years does not cut it in the more transparent and demanding society we live in.
Clarity, understanding and modern in-use language is the key to gaining the public’s attention.
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.
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