Rugby union in Australia is the toughest gig in world sport.
The Wallabies used to punch above their weight so often that it unfortunately became the expectation rather than the exception, and it’s not easy to constantly live up to the hype – like we’re seeing now. The Wallabies are constantly competing against and therefore compared with the most admired team in the world, the All Blacks. No team would want that, even if they’d all say they would!
And as if that weren’t enough, rugby union is competing with the incredibly successful NRL machine for eyeballs and talent.
Much of the innovation in rugby union has come from the southern hemisphere, particularly Australia. This is not because we are smarter than everyone else; it’s because Australia is the most competitive sports markets in the world. Competition drives innovation. While it is in our DNA to entertain, competitive pressure is what really makes it imperative.
I’d suggest that if the Wallabies were winning but playing boring rugby, casual viewers would just switch to something else, most likely NRL. I know people who do this – they start watching a union game and after the third scrum reset and endless penalties switch to watching NRL.
Potential casual viewers probably outnumber avid viewers, so clearly this is not good for the long-term success of union in Australia. Having fewer viewers means lower TV ratings, which means less money in the code, which means more union players seeking a home overseas or in the NRL. Other countries don’t have this problem.
The primary objective of union – or any sport, for that matter – should be to entertain. Entertainment drives eyeballs, which drives revenue, which drives growth and success. When the Boks say their objective is to win rather than entertain, we shouldn’t criticise them. We should criticise World Rugby because the code needs to keep evolving to ensure its entertainment value is keeping up with the changing entertainment landscape.
World Rugby’s objective should be for teams to say that their objective is to entertain, because entertaining rugby translates into the code winning overall. But it’s hard to imagine that at the moment
World Rugby would point to incredible growth of the game as proof of success. I’d suggest that the growth is primary due to sevens, women’s competitions and developing union countries. This is fantastic – and I mean that genuinely – but the most important measure of growth should be growth of the already established men’s game in Tier 1 nations, because this is an indicator of where the ceiling is for the code as a whole.
The objective should be to raise the ceiling as much as possible, and the only way to do this is to improve the entertainment value, because entertainment drives eyeballs, which drives revenue, which drives growth and success.
(Photo by Getty Images)
Yes, there has been quite a lot of innovation since 1995, when the code turned professional. But from an entertainment point of view the biggest issues still remain, like scrum resets and endless penalties, whereby players and spectators scratch their heads and wonder why. World Rugby should make it a priority to clean up the game by resolving the biggest issues.
World Rugby is to be commended for tackling the breakdown issue. In March 2020 the new breakdown law application guideline made its world debut in Super Rugby Aotearoa and Super Rugby AU. The results have been positive but the benefit has been mainly there for avid viewers – it is unlikely to make a significant difference in attracting casual viewers.
The scary statistic is that the ball was in play for an average of 36 minutes 15 seconds – this was considered positive because it was three minutes 42 seconds longer than the average time in the previous season. Ouch! How can we turn casual viewers into avid viewers as well as attract new casual viewers when the ball is in play for an average of only 36 minutes 15 seconds?
It would be great if World Rugby would tackle the issues that contribute to the ball being out of play for the bulk of the remaining 45 minutes. Why hasn’t this happened already? Because union is a happy camp where enough avid viewers turn up anyway and there is no competitive pressure to innovate more quickly.
A hypothetical world schoolboy rugby team was picked nine months ago. Three Australian players made this team. So what’s happened since then in the real world? The one Australian forward recently got signed up by the Melbourne Rebels union team. The two Australian backs got signed up by NRL clubs several months ago. Ouch!
While the flow of union players to league has slowed since professionalism and there is now even some flow the other way, NRL clubs have an excellent track record of targeting junior superstars, and the NRL still seems to be the preferred home for superstars. I’d suggest that’s why it’s hard to find the superstars in the current Wallabies – league has picked them up before union has had the opportunity to see them in union beyond school.
Can you imagine if this happened in England? In fact the opposite is true: since professionalism England union is the preferred home for superstars, the most recent example being Sam Burgess. My point here is that he made the switch, not whether or not he was successful.
How about if England were playing a union Test match and 20 minutes after kick-off a big chunk of TV viewers switched to an English rugby league club game? That would mean lower TV ratings, which would mean less money and that union management and players would have to take a pay cut. Superstars would be targeted by league. England would be experiencing the same competitive pressure as Australia.
If England felt the competitive pressure, you can bet that the northern hemisphere and World Rugby would feel the pressure.
Hence the title of this article: Rugby Australia should invest in English rugby league to make it stronger. I can’t think of a better way to create competitive pressure than to drive World Rugby for the benefit of union internationally. Can you?
Patrick McDuling
Guest
Unfortunately nobody likes rugby league outside NSW and Queensland. Every single innovation that has gone into rugby from Australian league has been to the detriment of the Game. For example, retaining possession after a penalty kick to touch has given us endless rolling marks. Allowing a player to place the ball back after a tackle has given us rucks as the main way o first restating a game and penalties every two minutes.what rugby could have learnt from League is professional management. Today rugby is a professional sport run by Amateurs.
Marlin
Roar Rookie
Thanks for the article. I appreciate most of the logic within, however, football (soccer) which i used to be entertained by, is the most boring of the football codes but it doesn't stop it attracting the fans or the superstars. But I grant you that rugby has become largely boring with scrum resets, pedantic penalties and winding down the clock. Interesting that the ball is 'in play' for less than 50% of match time but not surprising.
Englishbob
Guest
It's a real shame, I've watched aussie and kiwi sport for years and always been a bit fan, my kids watch the NRL (not entirely their choice) and generally our antipodean friends are generally very good at any sport they try: cricket, rugby, athletics, sailing, afl etc but you can't win at everything (as an English sports fan I'm well aware of this) - the historic dominance of Australian League and Cricket over England and NZ gets repaid in Rugby etc.
The World in Union
Roar Rookie
Nothing has changed - I don't think the consistent support has ever been there particularly in Aus where it is more sensitive to both entertainment and winning. The second Bledisloe was not a typical example. I believe the 50% crowd was largely due to ticket prices - not enough NZers can justify hundreds of dollars for 2 weeks in a row. Sure it was also due to the predictability of the result but at that time the match was not the last home test of the year - at that time people on a budget would have given top priority to the upcoming Bok test on October 2 in Auckland. As much as I'd love Aus matches to replicate the atmosphere in the UK, we all know that UK fans go nuts more so than any other fans in the world - good for you! (seriously) I'm amazed how regular battlers like Crystal Palace always draw such enthusiastic crowds. If only we had a less competitive market in Aus so that people could make tribalism the main driver of interest. I think the closest we come that is AFL in Melbourne because it's so dominant and in its unique lane.
Englishbob
Guest
I just don't think the consistent supporters are there in NZ/Aus anymore. That second bledisloe game was likely to be the second of two home test matches of the whole year against a decent opposition and NZ failed to fill their biggest ground in their biggest city. I'm struggling to think of a single Twickenham game (outside of the ba bas) since I believe Uruguary in the 2015 RWC that packed less than 90% of a crowd in (covid notwithstanding). The same applies for Scotland Wales and Ireland , not an empty seat to be had. My local football team Man United fill nearly 80000 X 20 times a year at home, from a city population of about 600,000, they also have Man City down the road, and half a dozen other sell out clubs within a bus ride. Unless RA / wallabies can convince an equivalent amount of people to regularly part with money then they have to get used to being beaten regularly. The Abs and the NRL(Go Raiders) are such beasts in that the level of athletic performance and product is up there with the bigger sports given the relatively meagre resources, but those are anomalies sadly
The World in Union
Roar Rookie
Of course it's fantasy...but the message is real. We need to stick a rocket up World Rugby to clean up the code and make it more entertaining. If a high profile person like Steve Hanson can't achieve it over many years then we need to resort to fantasy :thumbup:
Pete
Guest
Just like league and its clubs full of pacific Island players well over 50%.
Aido
Guest
Australia has been the great innovator? So all those Bledisloe Cup embarrassments were fake news?
Busted Fullback
Roar Rookie
You’re right Jez but there was a time when you couldn’t. We really gave the Home Nations curry with the skill.
Paulie
Guest
As long as you have Beaumont and his cronies in charge of world rugby it will never change i just read an article by Steve Hanson and his disbelief in the way the game has changed and the crazy amount of penalties and rule changes the leaguies have got it right keep it simple and basic isn't football all about entertainment...love to see Steve Hanson put his hand up to govern the game and make our game great once again
TheOvalBall
Roar Rookie
This is actually a non article. As an Englishman and fan of both Union and League then what's suggested is fantasy. I love League but Super League here is boring and I stopped watching it many years ago. Its nowhere near as good as the NRL. Once Union became professional a number of the best League players went to Union and the talent was never replaced. Then the quality of Union players improved at the same time to tilt the scales onto Unions side. League teams became more in debt and its only kept alive by revenue from Sky satellite for broadcasting. Nobody is investing in league here so this stupid article (not the author) is just fantasy. If you want to improve Union in Australia improve the coaching at junior level and professional club level. Watch any game of NZ vs Aussie either club level or international. The Kiwis are better at decision making, tactics and getting the basics right. The same mistakes made by the Aussie Super Rugby teams are made by the Wallabies. The reason the Kiwis can lose top players from the starting 15 and others replace them and the Abs still win is because the Kiwis get the basics right at club level more often than their Aussie counterparts and that translates to international level.
Kent Dorfman
Roar Rookie
basketballs played in a lot of schools, drives me bonkers when all you hear after school from the neighbors kid is them bouncing the bl00dy ball non stop. i think schools push non contact sports so they cannot be blamed / sued if little Johnny does his knee what falling awkwardly trying to take a mark at footy. The Americanisation of Australia is alive and well. Who knows – the pathways to US colleges by playing baseball / basketball may also influence? Basketball – just make the score 98 all & put 2 minutes on the clock as that’s the only time it gets exciting (if you could call it that). as for the other crap that’s the parents fault for letting them become couch potatoes – laying on the couch watching netflix instead of being outside running around. who knows maybe parents see it as a good thing as they are at home where it’s safe from pervs? Social media – sheep each & every one of them. as a kid i couldn’t wait for recess, lunch, 3.30PM and weekends cuz you’d be outside running around, kicking the footy, riding the deadlies everywhere
matth
Roar Guru
True, so explain the rise of basketball. TV, video games and social media.
jeznez
Roar Guru
You can still pop it off the deck, just have to do it immediately.
Kent Dorfman
Roar Rookie
think you're right on the money Jez. no kid would have worried if the game was boring to watch on TV, if he was 10 and had been throwing the rugby ball around the backyard since he was 5, he would watch a test match possibly with lofty dreams of playing a test match when he gets older, not worrying if there were too many scrum resets etc. If it is based on entertainment - no one would ever watch or play gridiron - a 60 min game that lasts over 3 hours, yet look at the crowds not only at NFL level but high schools in Texas (i guess the multi million dollar contracts help)
Kent Dorfman
Roar Rookie
Matth – school, from the type of ball that his dad gives him as a 5 year old, what his mates down the street play. Why do Greek / Italian and Pommy kids play soccer in VFL dominated states? Because that is the ball their dad gave them as a young child, it is what he kicked around the back yard. For children at young ages it is about doing it and having fun with friends, do you think a child will watch a game and analyze how many ruck turnovers etc were won? no, for them it is about looking forward to the weekend so they can run around with their mates.
The World in Union
Roar Rookie
This article highlighted that League wins hands down...only in Australia! In the rest of the world, Union wins hands down. Super Rugby Aotearoa matches NRL for quality. Union just needs to get its international act together to emulate Super Rugby Aotearoa in other countries. England may be there already (although I think the NZ Super teams would beat club teams anywhere else in the world which is why it's such a struggle for Aus to compete). France is already there, except of course for the entertainment element...which once again is why Union needs to change to achieve its full international potential.
Livale5
Roar Rookie
Well i reckon it’s pure jealousy as Aus & NZ have no history no heritage & no culture apart from the maori . They have given very little to the world just endlessly whining & sniping about UK. The USA have a fabulous history given their relatively newness but those nations phew ,what are they about. I know this is a rugby thread but the endless bitchin from Aus & NZ.They continuously slander the UK and think it’s funny (says so much for their character)
TJ-Go Force!
Roar Rookie
Or we could invest in player pathways so our best young talent isn’t leaked to the NRL…
adam smith
Roar Rookie
Thanks for the info BF, that's a fascinating bit of history! Sadly, not surprising the NH Union's lobbied for the change & that nothing has changed in that regard. :thumbup: