Rod Macqueen concerned by new rugby union laws

Spot-on Harry. A number of years ago Munster with Ronan O’Gara also had a 41 phase drop goal. The opposition simply backed off as a percentage play.

I managed to steal many a tighthead from the opposition scrum at school back in the 90’s ;-) Always struck for the ball, but because you’re 1 man further away from the feed it’s quite difficult, don’t have the same leg reach. It helped if I had really strong big props who got a good shove in at the start of the scrum.

Win

It's also much, much harder to execute in general play and frequently isn't even a real contest. The defence floods over an isolated player without a whimper of resistance. The problem is players are rarely isolated, countering against even a poorly supported ruck is very hard and countering runs the risk of weakening the defensive line. Don't get me wrong, I love a good counter ruck, but it's too risky for the defence and too easily defended by the attack. Teams tend to be risk averse and it's easier to make a handling mistake on attack than a defensive mistake with current systems. Why counter Ruck when you can tackle your way to possession?

It's a reasonable desire though. Jackaling has much more that is open to interpretation. Are they actually supporting their own weight? Did they beat the ruck?, etc. Counter rucking is much easier to adjudicate.

They should not as the situation is the same. Under the previous laws that was legal as you had beaten the ruck. Which would still be the case.

Malcolm Marx looks like he could be better than Bismarck and on the same level as Pocock, Smith and McCaw at the breakdown.

I agree Dempsey looks like he should be a 7 longterm, and Liam Wright is of a similar size I believe. Shame Dempsey is so injury prone currently. I never saw a 7 as a pure pilferer. McCaw was excellent at the breakdown but also a great link player, defender and ball runner. Smith was the same with less tight ball running and more skills. I think Pocock is the exception rather than the rule in terms of a 7 just being a ruck monkey.

Dan Leavy, Josh van der Flier, James Davies, Yannick Nyanga. Leavy put on a breakdown clinic a few weeks back against Montpellier. It is just hysteria that normally occurs in Super Rugby we saw that with the IRB deciding to enforce the dangerous tackle law to stop referees like Jaco Peyper not following the laws and guidelines. All the changes are saying that players who go for a turnover have to be on the right side of the ball facing the opposition's goal line and make it clearer for referees it to stating when a tackle becomes a ruck.

While Macqueen may or may not have a point (I haven’t made up my mind yet) I think the wallabies inability to score anything after 20+ phases has more to do with Foley’s inability to guide a team around the park and spark attack beyond himself running into gaps.

I think there's some secret group within World Rugby that just really loves counter rucking and wants to see that become the preferred avenue for a turnover. This isn't the first time rules have been trialed that appear to discourage the jackal and encourage counter rucking. I think a pretty simple tweak would probably return a bit of contest from the tackler. Rather than saying they have to return back through the gate to attack the ball, the rule could state that they can attack the ball from their side of the ball, i.e. they have to get to their feet and get in a position where they are behind the ball, facing the opposition's tryline. This would slow down their positioning to jackal, stop those awkward situations from before the trials when a tackler would get to their feet and seek to jackal with their back to the opposing side, but it would still allow the tackler a reasonable opportunity to compete for the ball. I find the new rule especially ridiculous because how can you form a gate when an offside line doesn't exist until a player is over the ball? It becomes a case of the tackler getting to their feet, which forms the ruck, which they must then leave to return through the gate.....

True. So when will we have two hookers competing for the ball at scrum time? hahahah

What makes rugby union unique amongst ball/contact sport is the contest for posession. Once you start interfering with that rugby loses its identity.

Also, there are still plenty of small guys in rugby. If anything, scrumhalves are even more like gymnasts and yoga gurus than ever. Plenty of smallish 9s, 10s, and other backs: George Ford, Aaron Cruden, Pat Lambie, Aaron Smith, Faf de Klerk, Ben Youngs, Wes Fofana, Bernard Foley, Finn Russell, Stu Hogg, Greig Laidlaw, etc. Also, some top forwards are not that big, even now: Michael Hooper, Kwagga Smith, CJ Stander, Matt Todd, etc.

One would be remiss if you did not look at the playing style of the Brumbies under Macqueen, he lead the charge of unlimited tackle rugby and had his team running up 20 plus phases regularly, his boring and predictable game while being successful was one of the reasons world rugby changed the ruck laws, so i call hypocrite on Macqueen, when you were coaching this was the style your were totally committed too, so suck it up Rod.

Exactly Harry and make the wrong decision doing that under the recent law change which allows the opposition to kick the ball in touch off a penalty when time is up gives Ireland a chance to go within kicking range.

I think this 41-phase thing is a bit overstated. France was playing the percentages: ahead, a minute left, Ireland struggling to cross halfway, in the rain. Sexton cramped up. Very few carries were clearly over the gain line. There was no need to pilfer. Tackle hard and wait for the knock on. Ireland was going nowhere; then, at Phase 20, Sexton tried a miracle cross kick and Earls got into French half. Reset. But still, better to give Sexton a 42 m drop attempt in the rain, than a 35 m kick off the tee. So, no pilfer attempt. So I think it was a pretty unique situation. In Stormers v Jaguares, plenty of TO attempts and successes...

I reckon there will definitely be a move to bigger sevens Fionn and that it would have happened irrespective of the new rules. Think Burger for South Africa and Haskill for England, both big enough to be sixes or eights but play/ed on the open side. The good teams nowdays seem to emphasise the entire teams getting turnovers by multiple methods, rather than relying on a specialist pilferer, and I think it is the right move. The problem with a specialist pilferer at seven is that he can be played out of the game by a smart team, like the All Blacks did with Pocock and their blindside play during the World Cup final. And a lot of hookers are the right body type to play that role now anyway, think about how good du Plessis was, as good as most sevens. All other things being equal, I reckon if you have a bigger loose forward you should play him, the weight and height are always valuable. In the Aussie conference Dempsey and Korcyzk best fit the physical description of the types of player I think we will see filling the seven spot in the future. As for Pocock, I always thought it was a shame that he didn't get trained as a hooker when it became in about 2011 that the seven role was becoming more generalist, as epitomised by McCaw. Pocock certainly has the body type and the brains to learn to be a good hooker, but if they were going to do that they have left it too long.

That all shapes and sizes went with amateur era..... A wing now is standard 1.85m and 90kg of lean muscle.

Really? You'd have to be asleep not to look good with 10 metres to work with. Think you are blowing smoke up league's derrière for no good reason.