“I love watching penalty goals in rugby,” said nobody. Roughly 10 minutes of game time in an average match of super rugby is taken up by shots at penalty goal.
Is the spectacle of the penalty goal worth 10 minutes of dead play? Is there anyone that would not prefer an extra 10 minutes of ball in play and set piece rugby?
Sure, a last minute shot at penalty goal to win the game can be very exciting. But is it more compelling than a last minute attack at the line?
It’s time to reclaim these 10 minutes and consign the penalty goal to history. Not just in Bill Pulver’s ‘Super B’ competition, but in all rugby.
Getting rid of the penalty goal would require something to replace it as a deterrent beyond conceding a kick for touch, scrum or tap. Pulver and others have suggested increasing the use of yellow cards for repeat infringements.
The argument against this is that you’ll get too many games decided by ‘artificial’ 15 versus 14 man rugby. I don’t think it’s a great argument as those teams would only have themselves to blame.
Nevertheless, I have an alternative solution. How about awarding an automatic point to the attacking team if the defensive side commits a penalty in their half (or perhaps their 22)? If the penalty offence doesn’t result in lost possession the play wouldn’t even need to stop at all.
No more need for the subjective period of penalty advantage. The referee would award a point and the play would continue.
If the penalty offense resulted in a turnover or unplayable ball then the attacking team would have the option of a tap, scrum or kick for lineout. If they wanted they could even take the tap and kick a drop goal.
This would provide a better deterrent than the penalty goal as infringing teams would concede points and do nothing to reduce the pressure they are under. It would also keep rugby as a 15 on 15 sport at almost all times (with players only carded for foul play or highly cynical professional fouls).
Best of all we’d get an average of 10 minutes more rugby per match without increasing the overall length of the game.
Breeze101
Roar Rookie
Penalty goal = 1 Drop goal = 2 Conversion goal = 3 Love the game but honestly everyone is falling asleep With This Bore Feast Of Penalty Goals. Running Rugby it's what fans want & should also get. I'm not sure if that's the same point system with the NRC but as any game evolves it must also adapt to change!! I truly believe this will also help rugby gain a bigger fan base & gain new interest in the game especially in Australia.This point system should be played at all levels!!
etienne marais
Guest
I love the tension of the lead-up to the penalty kick. And in the modern spectator environment, it provides a great opportunity, to review and admire the massive moments that lead up to the penalty being awarded (precisely at the point where those moment are still relevant). Also, from the spectaor perspective, the minute leading up to the kick is an opportunity to bicker and argue about the state of play. Rugby is a magic game.
etienne marais
Guest
The rules provide an objective framework. Referees adjudicate by watching for clearly defined action points, i.e. objective intent. Perceived subjectivity is introduced via the constraints inherent to the human cognitive system. That's three sentences, but a functional explanation would require 3000 words. Refereeing is extremely complex and almost impossible to get 100% right.
etienne marais
Guest
Eddard, I think the real problem here is just YOU. Might I suggest (very respectfully) that you stick to other ball sports like soccer/football, AFL, hockey, basketball, netball, and water polo for your gotta-stay-busy-gotta-be-entranced-busy.me-adrenalin.rush-tick.tick.tick-busy.busy.busy fetish. As a form of therapy, channel-hopping from one to the other, whenever at least one player is not running at full speed, might hold additional advantages. Please let us know if you feel any better after, say, 6 months or so.
etienne marais
Guest
In a close corollary, I see Russia is refusing to give The Crimea back.
etienne marais
Guest
"That’s just the way it is’ is the worst possible justification for something that can be changed for the better." That's the worst possible justification for your totalitarian claim that it would be change for the better.
etienne marais
Guest
Eddard, one could always use the 60 seconds to update your facebook page, check your twitter stream etc. This would fit in nicely with your philosophy of always being busy, busy, busy. Also, in a nice dovetail with your other passion (that of progress), the interaction with platformes de technologica, could become an integral part of ones game experience. Onwards and upwards. Hee-Ha!
etienne marais
Guest
...and braai-ing !
etienne marais
Guest
Have you ever seen a "goal from mark" executed, Eddard ? If not, move on to non-academical comparisons.
etienne marais
Guest
Hear, hear !
etienne marais
Guest
As far as I know, that's how the Stellenbosch rules were applied, but it never made it past the trials. Good question.
etienne marais
Guest
Seriously, I really DO love Australians.
etienne marais
Guest
Just to be clear: I love Australians...i even have three in my freezer.
etienne marais
Guest
And why on earth discriminate against penalties; let's dump the conversion kick borefest as well; that could easily gain us another 3 minutes of beautiful running rugby. And whilst we are at it, what's this 80 minute business anyway? Soccer does 90 minutes, which also seems a little silly...we live ina decimal world; let's go 100 minutes of beautiful, tantalising, picturesque, scenic, delightful, charming, wonderful, exquisite, pleasing, superb, magnificent rugby.... ...the crowds will come, they will love it, the Australian rugby board will be solvent again, World peace will break out, and there will be famine no more. Let's run the ball.
etienne marais
Guest
Poor Cooper (if Quade), must always be picked on. ;-)
etienne marais
Guest
Exactly. This call for wholesale change seems to be mainly an Australian inspired phenomenon, no doubt driven by their multi-code environment and a confusion amongst cross-over fans. The games are fundamentally different; like rally driving and track driving are different sports. Elsewhere in the world, the debate is one of degree, not one of core principles. If confused Australians want to, or need to re-invent the game, let them create a fourth code in which they can become the eternal World Champions. (My apologies if this seems to be a rant against Australians; that is not the case, just against those who insist on changing the game the rest of the world loves for what it is)
etienne marais
Guest
"In a game that can be won or lost on the ref’s interpretation of highly complex rules, reducing or eliminating points scored through penalties would reduce the ref’s impact on the final score." No it would not. Your version is based on a too simplistic understanding of the referee's role. The referee may execute positive intervention (awarding scrums, penalties, etc), and/or negative intervention (where he fails to intervene, when clearly, he should have). So, by saying that eliminating the penalty kick reduces the referee's impact on the final score, you ignore the other half of the income statement; where the attacking team infringes (perhaps many times) in adding their five-pointer, with the result that points appear on the board as a result of the referee's erroneous non-intervention. The same could be said for points that should have appeared on the board, but for the referee's intervention. In both cases, this is a negative referee intervention, that affects the scoreboard. Let's just keep rugby, rugby. Thanks.
etienne marais
Guest
HAHAHA, great line !
oh diana
Guest
My point, biltongbek, is not that you dislike rugby league - I think we can be under no illusions there, as you continue to tell us often enough - it is that you are one of those who keeps telling authors on this site who look to see if the game might be improved to "go and watch rugby league." This instruction is made more puzzling when you have written not too long ago that you had never seen a full game of rugby league yourself! Telling me that there were exhibition games 10 years ago or that you have seen the game integrated as part of your local club's training sessions does not gainsay your previous boast that you personally had never seen a full game. There would be far fewer articles on the Roar's rugby union page if your attitude were to take hold. As for your last sentence - that is both somewhat lordly in tone and seriously misleading: "We" South Africans are also rather fond of football/association football/soccer. The latter sport is by far and away the great sporting passion of the majority of black South Africans - the majority of the population as a whole. Surely you know this?
We even had two Australian teams in SA about ten years ago who played an exhibition game of AFL. Didn't find favour with the SA audience either. We tend to stick to rugby, cricket and golf.