CAMPO: Rugby? They may as well be playing league

Campo, thanks for telling it like it is. Another completely over looked league influence is the TV coverage. That's where rugby is starting to look more and more like league. The TV coverage has never been properly thought out. The TV producers should be asking what are the unique things about this sport of rugby and how do we televise it best. How is it different from league or AFL? For example, when the ball is in play the camera zooms in - and I yell at my TV because I can''t see the back lines. Sometime the half back passes the ball off the screen. I lose the context of the play. This doesn't matter in league because nothing much is happening apart from the few players around the ball. But in union it's really important what spaces open up around the paddock, which players match up on each other, where the loose forwards are positioning themselves and so on. Another thing people keep banging on about is keeping the ball in play for multiple phases. I just don't see the value in endless one off the ruck runners. I'd much rather wait for one minute while a scrum is set if it's followed by a well structured attacking phase. Fred Allen, the greatest All Black coach of all used to say 'give me four phases and I'll give you a try'. What now? Waratah's hold the ball 26 phases and no result. At best a penalty. I really have to say I would rather team takes a field goal than keep going one off the ruck hoping for a penalty. I know that's unpopular but hey, drop kick in play is a difficult skill to master and takes less time than a place kick. Kicking is even more spectacular than this one-off runner pick and go rubbish where there is no genuine contest for the ball. I know it's unfashionable but I would rather see ki8cking than this mindless bashing up 1 meter at a time. Sweeping backline movements. Those were the days Campo.

Jock M have you ever posted about anything else?!!

Can Campo or someone explain how standing flat is the go for the backs in attack? There's nothing like standing deep and steaming onto the ball to put the fear of god into an opposition and open up their defence. The best example of this I have seen recently were the Sharks against the Force a year or two ago. The Force were given a coaching clinic on what standing deep in attack can do and were well spanked.

People watched the RWC no doubt, including League fans, and possibly AFL and soccer fans too. It was really the only chance we get to watch Rugby on FTA. But it doesn't seem to have translated into more interest in rugby at least in Sydney. Whether this is because the Waratahs are just rubbish or people were unimpressed, or the RWC wasn't entertaining needs to be assessed I'd say. At the moment the situation at the Waratahs is very concerning. They should be the Broncos of Super Rugby. They need to get it together petty quick. This Saturday might be a good time to do it.

no. Soccer and Rugby are the childeren of a myriad of English school games (as is AFL and Gaelic Football - they are actually more similar to mid 19th century football than either Rugby or Soccer are today). In England, those who advocated using hands gravitated/coalesed to Rugby, those who didn't soccer. The hacking rule was the point where the differences became irreconciable. Rugby then split in two over player payments.

Rugby and league are two completely different games they involved the same skill sets but you can not compare one game against the other its like comparing soccer and Rugby there are no comparisons - body shapes are different, techniques are different and the way you obtain points are different some of the skills are similar, so are the skills of netball and basket ball ....Rugby may seem boring to leaguies but the Ruck and maul, scrums and lineouts and contest for possession are part of rugby the penalty kicks at goal are part of Rugby, I have played both and some of the skills are similar but there are more differences mainly in the forwards but in the backs union backs are taught to avoid contact and manipulate defences and a completed tackle is when the tackler releases the the tackled player then gets on his feet to compete for the ball at times they are forwards. the 5th tackle in league in the 20 meter zone is normally a high kick for the corners and hope that the defensive player makes an error

Moot point. Potential is one thing. Reality is another. Potential for Super Rugby has been talked about for a while but yet to materialize. People talk about the Force and Rebels expansion? Australian Rugby only has the depth to cope with 3 Super Rugby teams - let alone 5. Hence the sub-standard of Australian Rugby at the moment. Simple fact is, you can talk about 'potential' all you want. The reality is that the AFL have negotiated $1B+ TV rights - with the NRL about to sign TV rights for a similar figure this year. Can't see the TV networks scrambling over each other to offer the ARU $1B TV rights deal based on 'potential'. Money talks I'm afraid.

Sheek. League and AFL fans might not care about expansion beyond our shores and I'm not suggesting they should. The original point from Planko was what are rugby rights worth??? NFL comparison is a good one because we can say that their rights are worth 4 or 5 times that of AFL or NRL because of the size of their market. Now do you think the potential of Rugby is closer to NFL or AFL in terms of people who might watch if Super Rugby expands and Olympics create more interest? So what then are the potential rugby rights worth in another 20 years?? I'm an Eels, Blues and Tahs fan so at the moment both games feel like a DUD but I guarantee I would feel very different if I was from Brisbane. Certainly didn't seem like the general public thought rugby was a DUD during the recent world cup.

Bay, I understand what you are saying because I have seen some ordinary 1 on 1 tackle techniques in rugby also. Having coached rugby in the UK, NZ and Australia I find it says more about the coaching than the game itself. In the Uk most coaches will incorporate a tackle session into every one of their training sessions. It is a major part of their coaching. In Australia, coaches, particularly junior coaches will focus on catch, pass, rucking & mauling. Everything else is secondary.

Bring on Tokyo and Los Angeles!

problem for union is they are trying to put black and white rule interpretations on a game which is 100% grey. When league split from union, the code went down the streamlining path, trimming all the fat from the game to make it sleak. The attraction of Union is that it does have all those muddled old school elements lost to other football codes these days. But a black and white interpretation has turned it into a borring goal kicking session, where the ball is out of play for something like 40% of the game time. To fix this mess they need to cut off the referees hands and take away their whistles, and let the game flow.

well said, best if we all unite behind one superior football code in this country. # waits for crazy abuse from everyone! lol

It was Steve Walsh saying "Sir, the boys behind me are being mean and saying I need a shave ... make them stop!". At least that's what we told them he was saying at the time ....

I'm talking about in Australia mainly. One of my mates started out playing league, and started playing union in high school (went to Riverview late). He couldn't get over how crap the technique was in rugby (he went onto play subbies, and Hong Kong 10s), and his was so much better. If his young fella plays, as is likely, he is thinking of having him start playing league before switching just so he gets a good grounding in tackling.

Mitzter, how do you define 'cheating'. The charter of rugby is that there should be a contest for the ball. Most players are penalised for competing for the ball. Some players get penalised for cheating, but 9 times out of 10 it's for doing something technically wrong, such as going off your feet at a ruck (usually because you have the advantage and get over enthusiastic, or using your hands when a ruck is formed). I wouldn't call this cheating, it's often a penalty based on the referees discretion. I would like to see free kicks brought back for many of these indiscretions, they did work well when trialled with the ELVs but as they say the victors write the history.

You know, if you stop reading at 'Rugby? They may as well be playing league' then this article makes a lot of sense, as it would indeed be better for players, spectators and the world at large if Rugby Yawnion were to give up the ghost, and anyone with talent or a taste for action moved to League. Obviously the rest of the article, which can be paraphrased as 'dull sport is dull because of another sport', is fatuous beyond belief; he did, however, get the opening title and final line spot on. I suppose even a stopped clock tells the right time twice a day.

In 1999 the USA scored against the Wallabies in a pool game, btw. Just in case you ever come across that in a pub quiz...

Watch the Campo's career highlights video on this page. You don't see Rugby like that these days and quick so very quick.

Lol. I think I'll start calling Campo, Grumpo from now on.

Probably about the same odds as OJ having anything good to say about Australian rugby. Touche '