Rugby Union in Australia is now the subject of ridicule and derision. Matter of fact, it’s the subject of jokes in New Zealand too.
Two massive series against Ireland and England have been marred irreparably.
What makes matters worse is that this state of affairs was entirely predictable. If you add a conga-line of unplayable rules and a rampant TMO guided by slow motion replays to a game that was already slow and difficult to follow, you get made fun of.
Almost exactly a year ago, in July 2021, I wrote an article for the Roar stating the obvious:
the rules of the game were not protecting the players or the sport. There was no balance even then, the rules were an example of absolutism and zealotry which would lead to the game being undermined.
It was an appeal to the custodians of the game, the fans. Yet it was generally met with a trite reception of “I’m all for protecting players.”
I’m all for minimising road deaths but I don’t think making the speed limit 40 km/h on every road is the way to do it. Nor do I believe that cameras on every corner fining drivers for making decisions in real time is appropriate either.
But make no mistake, that is where we are at with Rugby Union in 2022 and, well, I told you so.
My July 2021 article was also in response to the ridiculous sending off of Marika Koroibete in the French series and the play acting by the French captain no less, that brought the TMO into the game. I noted that:
“It’s just a matter of time until a huge game is won or lost off the back of a similar call.
Forget replacing players 20 minutes after a red card. Make it harder to get a red card.
The game, especially in Australia, can’t afford to be a laughing stock.”
Now a year on, just as the game should be ramping up for a Lions Tour and gaining momentum before the 2027 World Cup, supporters don’t know whether to laugh or cry.
We’ve had people escape severe punishment or any punishment at all for hair pulling and ramming forearms across throats. Yet we’ve seen a player yellow carded for not turning into Clark Kent and changing direction in the air while attempting a charge down.
Eddie Jones has blasted the refereeing of modern day rugby as “out of control” with a red or yellow card dished out for “everything”.
It’s worth noting that Eddie’s comments weren’t just in relation to the two yellow cards over the weekend for ‘deliberate’ knock ons while attempting intercepts.
Eddie also rightly castigated the rules of the game for producing a red card to end Angus Ta’avao’s night in Dunedin. Putting aside that the highly influential Jones has had a hand in introducing all these rules, he had a point when he said:
“The All Blacks prop, he got more injured than the ball carrier, there was nothing intentional about him, it was a complete accident. He’s 135kg … and he got beaten by a change of direction and his head hit [Ringrose’s] head.”
Even the referee Jaco Peyper sounded remorseful when the on field microphone caught him saying:
“It looked like an accident, I just think that’s a direction change, it didn’t look like anything foul. Unfortunately, I’m going to have to give him a red card.”
The voices of Andrew Mehrtens, Tim Horan and even Andrew Kellaway over the weekend just added to the sense of desperation that is engulfing the game.
It is not hysterical to say that next year’s Rugby World Cup will probably be decided by a moment of madness not by a player, but by a referee interpreting bad rules badly.
The way things are at the moment, where common sense has gone out the window, I can’t see that two semi-finals and a final will occur without being marred by the rules, the TMO or the referee. Probably all three!
For the love of the game, there must be a change in approach.
I am not talking about introducing 20 minute red cards either.
All that does is add to the farcical scenes we saw in New Zealand last week. The touch judges, coaching staff and referees were more confused than the mystified players about who should and should not have been on the field.
Nor does adding a 20 minute red card address why cards are being handed out like candy in the first place.
At the very least, an element of intention should be introduced to the red card criteria. There was a day where a spear tackle was easily identified by the actions of a tackler. Similarly, there was a time where a swinging arm or pointed shoulder contacting with a head passed the red card ‘pub test’ 99.9% of the time. Hair pulling and forearms across the throat, not on.
Hardened fans and importantly first time viewers alike usually got it right. If it looks like foul play and smells like foul play it is foul play.
A system of ‘on report’ should also be introduced. Yes, that’s what they do in rugby league and yes, it’s better than what union does now. Why slow the game down anymore with slow motion replays from every angle imaginable viewed by TMOs who appear to have never played the game.
In other words, if a TMO sees something that the ref has missed during the game which is dubious, don’t stop play and rewind eight phases for anything other than deliberate foul play. Simply put it on report and on the citing commissioner’s radar.
More fundamentally, rugby needs to approach the issue of concussion in a balanced and sensible way that safeguards the fabric of the game as well as the player’s welfare. This is not soccer. But it isn’t the NFL either.
No doubt I’ll get the same responses I did a year ago, “if you don’t protect players, you can’t protect the game”. But that proposition can and should be flipped around too.
A year from now, during the Rugby World Cup, I hope I’m not saying “I told you so” again.
wre01
Roar Guru
I’ve always found it odd that wearing head gear, especially with people who have been repeatedly concussed, is controversial. What harm can it do?! Another important aspect to all this. Driving tackles lower actually increases the risk to the tackler (knees, hips etc). There isn’t a lot of data on how these rule changes impact the tackler but anecdotally and just watching the games… there’s an issue.
wre01
Roar Guru
Very relevant comment. There are a number of aspects to litigation: - causation: do concussions actually cause early on set dementia. Despite popular opinion, it is a highly controversial, unsettled area even amongst the medical profession. - liability: have governing bodies done enough (not everything they can) to minimise risk if causation is accepted. - liability waiver: do players accept an inherent risk when they take to the field in a contact sport.
Bobby D
Roar Rookie
NH Fan, your quote "better to let him pass" is staggering and you surely must be joking. No point commenting further on that one other than I would like to see that happen once just so I could be entertained by everyone's reactions. The NZ player didn't foul, it was an accident every day of the week - the R/C was a typically crap outcome.
jcmasher
Roar Rookie
Mate absolutely you can never totally get rid of head contact. That’s not actually the intent. World Rugby are trying to lower the incidents of head contact and they absolutely accept there will always be accidents. However if tacklers aimed at the waist or legs there’s be a lot less
stillmissit
Roar Guru
For those of you who are interested in concussion and headgear here is some further information following on from my article in 2020. https://www.theroar.com.au/2020/12/16/its-time-for-all-rugby-players-young-and-old-to-wear-head-protection/ There are a couple of reports out that I have just heard about and well worth a read. Seems they help but more work is needed to improve them over time. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC314393/ https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10439-022-02912-5 Let's see if this gets through the review process
Bobby D
Roar Rookie
I do too Dicky. One other point I want to make is why people who think accidental head clashes are punishable by R/C believe the defender is always at fault. The attacker is the one with momentum attempting to brace himself, sometime lowers himself, sometimes moves direction and very often his head is the one making first contact. If the defender has responsibility so too does the attacker. Those people supporting R/C should also support both players being dismissed - another ridiculous outcome of course but one that should make sense to those who simply "don't get it".
Bobby D
Roar Rookie
With respect jcmasher, IMO, it is just plain wrong to suggest head contact would be eliminated if players tackled low. That's not possible. Players are all different shapes and sizes with varying degrees of ability in techniques. It is not the coaches job to teach his players how to tackle. They all would have a fairly good knowledge how to do this by the time they reach international level. If they didn't they wouldn't be selected. Going to ground for a defender is often a dangerous place to be and upright ( I hate that word) tackles are and always have been a legitimate way to defend. We have been able to address swinging arms/shoulder charges/shoulder to head contact etc but ACCIDENTAL head contact/clashes are always possible no matter how the tackle is completed. Defenders don't want to put themselves in dangerous positions either but they can be as vulnerable as the attacker. Officialdom has taken the easy way by penalising innocent players whenever an ACCIDENTAL head contact occurs. No innocent player should ever suffer that serious consequence. I really don't understand why cards are applied in these instances and to suggest it will help eliminate the number of head injuries is pie in the sky stuff. Why you would want teams playing short because of this reason is also difficult to understand.
Rugbynutter
Roar Rookie
Lol no one questioning whether real rugby fan but the simple fact there is a major clamp down in any tackles or hits that go near the head. But hey you want to go down this path feel free but bit too obtuse for me.
Bobby D
Roar Rookie
All sound points wre01 - I think you have the answers to all your questions.
Bobby D
Roar Rookie
Perfect sense Ad-O. Agree with your comment on instinct. Of course it is. Coaches do not teach Test footballers how to tackle, the same as they don't teach them how to run. Players learnt to tackle years ago and most of them are able to tackle in different ways dependent on what they are confronted with. Instinct kicks in. It amazes me on this forum how people suggest that tackles should be lower or the tackler is too upright and I just wonder whether these people ever played the game. Sometimes it's simply not possible. Players also get hurt making low tackles, then are we to suggest in these cases that he should have gone higher!! Upright tackles are legitimate and if accidents happen from them or any other tackle, so be it. You cannot rid the game of accidental head injuries, full stop.
Hoy
Roar Guru
Yup... and making lower tackles increases risk to tackler... We saw three blokes in origin last night, all defenders, all having an early rest from concussion...
Kane
Roar Guru
You go for an intercept you better catch it or you are off. Where do you draw the line? Why don't you treat the attacking team the same, if you throw a pass you better catch it or you're off. Silly isn't it? Lineouts would be a massive mess as you could just punch he ball instead of catching it. I've read this like 10 times and still cannot make sense of it... I mean what does it have to do with anything?
Kane
Roar Guru
World Rugby's own study showed that 70% of head injuries happen to the player making the tackle, they then doubled down on protecting the ball carrier instead of no arm dives at peoples legs when defending the line.
Kane
Roar Guru
https://imgur.com/a/Raxg1sZ
Kane
Roar Guru
Ah I think they're struggling hence why they're considering moving north...
Kane
Roar Guru
https://imgur.com/a/Raxg1sZ I'm not sure people have even watched the game, TMO included "not in a position to charge the ball" Bollocks, this picture shows he was literally inches away from charging it.
Kane
Roar Guru
"how it was unintentional is beyond me as he was never in a position to block the ball and never even used his hands in a blocking motion, if it was a charge down generally the hands are out. He comes in on and angle while the ball is hit straight down the line." Have you actually watched the game? He was literally inches away from blocking the ball with his arms up.
Aiden
Guest
There are still good games played, but especially at international level I just hate that feeling I have in my gut that someone is going to do something and for some marginal arbitrary reason it will either lose us the game or ruin the contest. It’s always there. Can’t just relax and enjoy. And more often than not something happens. Bring frustrated with decisions is now part of the game. So called discipline is now probably the key win or lose factor. It’s a very odd sport in that regard. Leaving aside the head injury rules, there are just too many cards full stop and many for some fairly minor infringements, often accidental and often based on laws that are applied in a very discretionary way. The laws set the refs up for failure. They are so technical, there are so many. And does a kick at goal or a card have to be the outcome so often? There are so many rules designed to speed up the game that the laughable outcome of enforcing them is that they slow down the game. I’d reduce massively the infringements that lead to a kick at goal or a card. I prefer quick taps or kicks to the line. I’d reduce many scrum penalties and simply award the ball to the attacking team for a tap, and if the ball is there to be played I would not bother with a penalty at all. In terms of the dangerous play. I far prefer the on report approach … but with far harsher outcomes (financial and time on sidelines) for the offenders based on whether the action was a total accident, reckless or deliberate. In the third category, I’d give the player say 12 weeks off.
piru
Roar Rookie
Oh I see it's the old "all you people who don't like things exactly the way they are just not real rugby fans and you should all be quiet" bit We call that the Disney Lucasfilm approach
Jacko
Roar Rookie
He was in a very clear position to block the ball if the ball had been kicked in field. Its bad Irish execution that the ball went off to his right and out of play on the full.