All Blacks’ World Cup winning coach Steve Hansen has skewered South Africa’s Jacques Nienaber and British and Irish Lions coach Warren Gatland for playing a brand of rugby in their recent series that he says has “turned people off” the sport.
Hansen became the latest, and by far the most influential, observer to accuse South Africa of playing a boring brand of rugby, in a New Zealand radio interview sure to inflame the All Blacks’ great rivals ahead of their 100th Test match in Queensland next month.
“You’ve got two big packs and two coaches who don’t have any belief in what’s going to happen if they throw the ball around, so they just beat each other up,” Hansen said on NZ radio station Newstalk ZB on Sunday.
“Let’s slow the ball down, let’s get off our feet, do whatever we can to make sure our defensive line is stable so we can keep battering.
“It’s not a game that anybody wants to watch. Yes, we want a good physical contest, that’s what the game is about – physicality, speed, using the ball and skill.
“Could you say we saw that in that series? Of course we didn’t. And it turned a lot of people off.
“Suddenly, the All Blacks became popular again – ‘let’s hope the All Blacks can rescue rugby’. It’s not about the All Blacks rescuing rugby, it’s about everyone that’s involved in it taking some ownership and saying ‘right, we need to do something here’.”
Hansen also spoke out about a proposal from a group of former Lions players, led by Sir Ian McGeechan, who want to do away with tactical substitutions, believing that will make the game safer. Hansen said the issue with an increase in concussions in the sport was more to do with the current breakdown rules.
“I don’t agree with Ian in this instance. I don’t think changing the subs is going to help one iota, I think it actually just compounds the problem because you’d have a lot of fatigued players out there,” Hansen said.
“So for me that’s not the issue.
“The issue that we have in our game at the moment is there is no clear officiating of the rules.
“If you look at the rulebook, it talks about a ruck and it never talks about the breakdown. Breakdown is a word used more often than any other word in the game – there’s not even a rule for a breakdown and we have an old, antiquated law that says two people will bond over the ball and that’ll be a ruck.
“Well that never happens in the game.
“A lot of the injuries we’re getting are actually friendly fire, so you and I make the tackle and I knock my head against your elbow or your head.
“So we’d create a game where there’s a clear picture at the breakdown that yes, ball is quicker, the defensive lines won’t be able to set as quick; so attacking lines will be attacking against destabilised defences more often and there’ll be more space.
“I think the opportunity to be really brutal will dissipate.”
Hansen said rugby had other issues as well, inlcuding having become too complicated.
“When players don’t understand it, when people watching the game don’t understand it, when coaches don’t understand it, when referees can’t be consistent, we’ve got an issue and we’ve got to address that issue,” Hansen said.
“What we’ve tended to do over the years is add, add, add; when history will tell you that if you make something simple, by taking things away, then you’ll get more consistent at making those decisions.
“I’ve been beating my head against a brick wall for quite some time to get people to understand that we’re over-complicating it.”
South Africa, the current World Champions, won the Lions series 2-1.
Peter
Roar Rookie
Totally agree RugbyLover. Rugby League is a bit like the wild west. Anything goes including the rule book, out the window as often as not. It's not so much a sport as a concocted made for TV entertainment. It has no governance other than what Nine and Foxtel demand of it and they are as just as likely to drop it as soon as the ratings fall away, which may be sooner rather than later. I do hope you are right. The Next month does promise some great Rugby. It's just a shame that whilst the NRL, AFL, Netball and The Olympics has given us so much entertainment over winter that we have to wait so long. We have had a total of three first class Domestic Rugby games in this country all winter. It is not satisfactory when you consider the regular diet of entertainment that other sports have offered all winter long.
RugbyLover
Roar Rookie
Wayne there is no possible way you could tell that from the Rugby played in 2021. Who is to say both Oz and AB will not thrash the Boks in this RC. I for one am excited to find how it will pan out.
RugbyLover
Roar Rookie
They were when I was a boy :) Back then a tackle had to be above the ankle and below the shoulder. When did that change?
RugbyLover
Roar Rookie
yes Peter but lets face it in the NRL they don't have many penalties because they don't actually have many rules to penalise....
RugbyLover
Roar Rookie
that may have been a bit pre-emptive Peter..... Get that Stan subscription back, the next month is going to be glorious!
RugbyLover
Roar Rookie
the SA-NZ centenniel game would be a 60,000 sellout at Optus in Perth. Huge SA population there.
RugbyLover
Roar Rookie
this word cynical is used far too much. I hear it all the time from our commentators as well. Any NZ player who infringes is called cynical. Any Wallaby who infringes is called unlucky. Can we not have a debate here without going to the negative descriptions all the time?
RugbyLover
Roar Rookie
maybe its a Swan dressed as an ugly duckling, thinking it s chook...
RugbyLover
Roar Rookie
agree with your comment on the box kick. It was very effective early on when it was quick, unexpected, penetrating, purposeful.... Now it takes forever to set, the opposition know you are doing it, it is not generally penetrative (it is just an up and under) and it has no real purpose because of this and it is less and less effective.
CUW
Roar Rookie
else follow the lead of Indian cricket team - send in a junior when u lose !!! they will come and say all crazy things and will be xcused for their lack of xperience :D
The Yabbie
Roar Rookie
What's makes our sport great is the same thing that makes it difficult to grasp. Rugby is complicated and interesting. Unlike say football or badminton. Take the rolling maul. How can you possibly police that? I couldn't in an armchair with multiple angles and replays. Working towards a simplified rule book would be a very good. I'm happy with scrums and lineouts but mauls and rucks need serious attention as do tacles. And stop using "mitigating" for example as it is too obscure. #First and deliberate contact below the line between armpits with no motion intentionally angled or suspect of being angled to the head neck region deemed legal. Even if you are suspect of aggressing an attacking players head you are guilty RED CARD. If a player falls awkwardly into a defender then no red card...it's rugby
The Yabbie
Roar Rookie
59 really? How on earth does that add to the conversation Buk Rodgers from the 18th century?
Kent Dorfman
Roar Rookie
"playing a brand of rugby in their recent series that he says has “turned people off” the sport." - right on the money that quote. If there is a way to play boring rugby - that was it.
Muglair
Roar Rookie
That was a bit obtuse. The only language barrier there is for the Wallabies understanding the lineout calls :crying: Still love the French struggling with an English referee and a French referee struggling with English speaking teams. A bit unfair I suppose, since I only can speak one language myself. But the short words in the laws do play to my strengths.
Muglair
Roar Rookie
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Harry Jones
Expert
Thanks!
piru
Roar Rookie
It was always going to happen at some point, luckily for SA
piru
Roar Rookie
Richie would push hard early, and as soon as he was warned or pinged, would calibrate to that referee's version of 'the gate'. That's just smart imo
piru
Roar Rookie
Possibly OO but it's interesting that JP thinks kiwis would be sore over SA winning the final. If anything we'd have preferred SA to win than England, though maybe not if we'd known how it would go to their heads
piru
Roar Rookie
I think stopping the clock would have the opposite effect, I say get the player off the field and carry on. He's then got two minutes (while play continues) to come back or he gets replaced. Exception being the HIA rule