Plenty of headlines were generated last week with the Queensland Reds’ announcement that their end of season two-match Challenger Series would include a number of law variations and innovations, and on the surface most of them look logical, even overdue in some cases.
The tweaks are all designed “to speed up the game and increase ball-in-play time” and include things like time limits on kicks at goal and set piece contests, as well as a clarification to deliberate knockdowns and the advantage laws.
The Reds have named a development squad to take on a Queensland President’s XV in the matches at Sunnybank this Saturday, and at Easts Rugby club next weekend.
But far from Queensland going rogue on the Laws of Rugby, these Law Variations in use for their trial games are just the latest in a series of trials that actually started at St.Edmunds College in Canberra a fortnight ago, when Brumbies and Waratahs XVs played each other under a very similar set of LVs.
The Brumbies and Melbourne Rebels will utilise that same set of LVs in another trial game in Albury this afternoon.
As you can probably guess, all these games – and other end of season tours scheduled for early next month – are designed purely to get some game time into what’s left of contracted and players not already in action with the Wallabies and Australia A, and new recruits and training squad members alike.
“It’s just an opportunity to get some game time into these guys,” new ACT Brumbies coach Stephen Larkham told me this week.
“All these guys, and it was the same for New South Wales, all these guys have come out of John I Dent Cup but they haven’t really played together as a Brumbies outfit. So, it’s a great opportunity for us to do that.”
I know what you’re thinking right here, because I had exactly the same thought. If only we had some kind of next-level development competition being played at this time of year. A National Something Something.
Well stay tuned. I’ve known for some time the desire was there to get a competition of some sort up at the back half of the year, but it seems now that desire is becoming more of a necessity.
“That’s the plan, to set up some sort of competition through this period so that we’re getting that next level of rugby for these guys to develop,” Larkham confirmed.
Back to these LVs being implemented. For one thing, there’s not a prescribed set; the set in use in Queensland is similar but not exactly the same as the set used in Canberra and Albury. It’s LVs by agreement, essentially.
The full set of LVs in use for the Queensland Challenger series can be found here, but the quick summary is thus.
All the time limits in place within the Laws of Rugby that have long needed enforcing will be. Kicks at goal, restarts of play, setting scrums, ball into the lineout; all of them will have their respective time limits enforced via wired-up timekeeper.
(Photo by Morne de Klerk/Getty Images)
A referee saying ‘use it’ when the ball is at the back of the ruck means use it now, not when your extra players arrive for you to box kick from behind.
Deliberate knockdowns will be ruled as a ‘deliberate attempt to catch’, or a ‘deliberate attempt to knock down’ and will only result in a penalty kick rather than a yellow card. Advantage will only last three phases before being called over, or the penalty is blown.
That annual focus on tacklers having to roll east-west will return, and in something of a shock to me, only contested lineouts will be pulled up if the throw is not straight. It’s a shock to me because I had thought that NRC variation was promoted to Super Rugby years ago. I didn’t realise it wasn’t in play now, but it might explain a few things.
But not all LVs are equal. The Queensland games will allow only the players in a lineout formation to join any subsequent maul, whereas the Brumbies-Waratahs-Rebels games didn’t and won’t. I’m not sure all games will prevent the opposition scrumhalf for advancing beyond the halfway point of a scrum, either.
These LVs all sound promising, but what’s driving them? Well, it turns out the coaches themselves are. Sort of.
“All of the Super Rugby coaches, CEOs, and general managers met at the Shape of the Game conference in Auckland, along with World Rugby Director of Rugby Phil Davies, and New Zealand Rugby and Rugby Australia representatives,” Larkham explained.
“We thrashed it all out and broke it into three components: the broadcast, the fan engagement, and the on-field.
“We discussed all aspects of the game, and knowing that we’re in this competitive environment, tried to work out exactly what we can do to make a game a bit more enjoyable and bring some more fans into games.
“The big one around the Laws was trying to get more ball in play time. Some of the Super Rugby games were 25, 26 minutes of ball in play out of the 80 minutes, and the actual game time is not 80 minutes, it’s more like 90 to 100 minutes. So you’re talking about less than 30 minutes ball in play and that’s a fair amount of dead time.”
The NPC in New Zealand wasn’t a candidate, but the Australian states agreed to trial some variations and report back to Adrian Thompson, RA’s General Manager of High Performance Programs, with a view to building the business cases for future implementation in Super Rugby.
But don’t expect huge change for 2023.
“We can’t change the fabric of Super Rugby next year because that will affect the Test teams going into the World Cup,” Larkham said.
“But these things are in Law, the time compliance things are in Law already, they’ve just got to be refereed.”
So similarly to how some things were trialled in the early seasons of the NRC, what we might see next year is a change in refereeing approach, or even within a refereeing interpretation.
“The time compliance stuff is there so we’re going to try and get that in, just with a timekeeper (if not on-screen).
“And then with the deliberate knockdown, that’s a framework that the referees can potentially modify anyway. I don’t think that’s going to change the fabric of the game.
“Set piece is an issue. It’s really an onus on referees to make sure they’re making good decisions,” Larkham says.
“It’s not trying to fix that and it’s a very difficult area to referee, because there are little tactics that happen in the front row that only the front row knows that they’ve done.
“Sometimes the opposition front row don’t know why it’s come down, but the guy that’s done it does know. It’s very hard for the referee in that part of the game.”
From the one trial his side has played, Larkham says improvements have been achieved without a lot of disruption.
What rugby law needs to change? (Photo by Kai Schwoerer/Getty Images)
He said the Brumbies just didn’t bother setting up ‘caterpillar rucks’ and thus the five-second ruck wasn’t an issue. Kicks and restarts all happened well within the time limits, and so did scrums and lineouts.
“We didn’t actually have a free kick for time wastage. We practised it, and the Waratahs had practiced it through the week. Referees sorted that, or the players sorted that.
“We made sure that we were ‘setting’ quickly and they never got to [the time limit]. I think they got to within ten seconds for one.”
It does kind of make you wonder if these LVs have been so easy to adapt to now, why coaches haven’t just done this before. If teams can get used to packing a scrum within thirty seconds of the mark being made over the course of a few weeks, why the hell has the game allowed itself to devolve like this?
As it happens, Larkham wasn’t and isn’t a huge fan of the advantage law tweaks and probably won’t support it going forward.
“We weren’t particularly happy with that one I don’t think.
“I think three phases just probably brings you back to another set piece start, as opposed to just let it play out. So we were probably against that one.”
But, on the whole, the consensus is there on both sides of the Tasman to make the necessary improvements that the game so desperately needs.
All teams want to play in front of bigger crowds and all the benefits that come with home ground advantage. All the clubs know that the best way to increase crowds – and therefore revenue – is to make the sure the product is worth watching, and especially worth sponsoring.
The best way the game can become more stable and sustainable off the field is to make the make the rugby played on the field the very, very best it can be. That’s a view that unites both RA and NZR in ways that their respective Chairmen often seem some distance away from.
So these trials will help, in time. So too will things already in place in the United Rugby Championship or even Major League Rugby. Precedents and working examples can only help business cases.
“I think that was the goal out of the conference, that we might not be able to get any LVs into Super Rugby for this coming season, but going forward we know we need to improve the spectacle of the games,” Larkham says.
“So post World Cup, there will be a few changes.”
In brief
Guest
Or even better penalise the team which keeps pushing when the ball is available for dangerous play..
SDRedsFan
Roar Rookie
1997 when would you play this comp? Would it be straight after Super Rugby? Personally I miss watching 2-3 games a weekend once SR stops and then only get one Wallabies game every 2nd weekend while the Rugby Championship is on, although I must commend Stan for their coverage this year. I have enjoyed watching the Pacific Nations cup and I even watched a few Brisbane club games even though I'm not invested in any of the clubs there, and the Nudgee v whoever the Sydney school was that dusted them. I really enjoyed watching the Commonwealth Games 7s too and looking forward to the rest of the Aus A Japan tour, Women's World Cup, and Northern Hemisphere tour. It just feels to me though that once Super Rugby finishes, it's a long time between drinks so I'd love to see a decent televised comp continue immediately beyond Super Rugby, even if it overlaps the Rugby Championship.
cookie
Roar Guru
Because the kiwi props kept planking unable to support his own weight causing. him to face plant and bell to hinge? For better or worse the Aussies aren’t savvy enough to collapse them.
Biltong
Guest
I remember many Aussie teams in Super Rugby and test rugby who were masters at scrum collapses.
Tim J
Roar Rookie
You do look good for your age and stress Brett :stoked: You and Harry have gone from strength to strength on here, I might be too mad/nutty to get to your standards.
Brett McKay
Expert
Ha, I know what you mean MK - I wrote a second article in 2008, and then one thing led to another, and I'm now a decade into a career change... :laughing:
Daffyd
Roar Rookie
KCOL, one of my pet complaints is the absurd amount of wasted time EVERY week, with refs "coaching' pro players on the laws of the game -- from offside to scrum reset. If they are pro, why don't they know the rules / laws? Refs have too much to say and would be fine -- if reffing the u12s. Refs should "coach" pros with a penalty or a card and no explanation other than the prescribed arm signal by the ref -- the players will soon work it out, (hint - it's the same reason as last week) Or they won't and then their coach can do their job and coach them while they sit on the naughty chair for 10 minutes. I've said before that all pro players should at least have a level 1 ref's ticket and be out reffing U16 and unders every week. For the good of the sport.
Tim J
Roar Rookie
Hello Brett, I have something to mention off subject totally. You need to warn others that writing your first article leads to an addiction problem :shocked: I am thinking about my next one for early next week, as it involves both sides of the ditch.
BleedRedandBlack
Roar Rookie
Interesting. Didnt know that. That and the no conversion on a penalty try, a full blown law change, hopefully pointing the right way. The time saving associated with reducing the number of kicks at goal would be massive, far greater than anything else because it would be largely structural and therefore not subject to manipulation. I did a time count between time try scored and conversion taken, or penalty given and kick taken in the 1st Beldisloe in Melbourne. [its amazing what you get done in a friday afternoon off work] I came up with a total of 18 minutes, 01 second lost to watching place kicks, and 23 minutes 54 seconds taken before the game restarted. I didnt count the last try because it was that was overtime. Here's my working 1.38 and 2.05 NZ Try 03.10 1.22 and 1.54 NZ Pen 07.00 1.27 and 2.00 NZ Pen 09.45 1.15 and 1.43 AU Pen 16.26 0.53 and 1.21 AU Try 25.03 1.44 and 2.25 NZ Try 40.50 1.32 and 1.57 AU Pen 51.11 1.05 and 1.44 NZ Try 55.47 0.49 and 1.13 AU Try 60.41 1.23 and 1.38 AU Try 66.27 1.30 and 2.00 NZ Pen 69.22 1.48 and 2.00 AU Try 72.10 1.35 and 1.54 AU Pen 75.25 1.00 NZ Try 80.30 The time lost to watching place kicks is phenomenal. Eliminating conversions in that game, while giving the team kicking off 1 minute max to restart, would have saved around 5 minutes. Making penalty kicks drop goals would proably have stopped Barrett and White's long range attempts, and reduced the other four attempts by a minute each, which would have save another 8 minutes all up. Take away place kicks and in this game you would added almost quarter of an hour game time. That, I suspect, is fairly typical.
Daffyd
Roar Rookie
Cookie, thanks for the reply and it's not just forwards that are huge, the backs of toda --excepting most halves -- are becoming as big as the forwards of my day... League scrums have one advantage that union scrums don't. Abysmal as they are they get the ball back into play. Union almost never work the first time, every time -- to mean this means they are fundamentally flawed. Something has to be done to change that. If you can show me a way so that scrums work first time every time; without the need to chronically reset, without the need to have the ref coach them (ffs - what has changed from last week??? ) and without becoming a penalty (when there is no foul play) and the another scrum is called where the whole time wasting charade occurs again, please let me know. Again, thanks for your comment.
The Hen
Roar Rookie
The best LVs ever. Will have immediate and positive impacts on the game. Another important issue is substitutions. If limited to Injuries would allow for exhaustion and gaps to Open up the game big time rather than strong defense shutting the game down. Otherwise these are initiatives hit the nail on the head. Well done.
cookie
Roar Guru
JC mate there are many telltale signals as to exactly what is happening how and why scrums have collapsed. You can usually see it happening long before it collapses particularly when it involves the entire pack or a prop who loves to overreach that can no longer support himself and faceplant. NZ, SA, ENG in particular are pretty crafty. Its been widely discussed on the roar in the past. Some of it is so obvious its hard to understand how a ref could miss it or simply do not know what to look for. I'm talking more super and international level.. club and school is another matter. But yes on occasion scrums do collapse with nobody really at fault such is the intensity.
Tooly
Roar Rookie
Strange that the weakest Nation wants rule changes while Rugby in the rest of world is booming . Obviously an attempt to cover up their deficiencies in skills and discipline also as vain attempt to make the game more attractive . . The fickle “ I want it now “ punters they are trying to attract are not Rugby fans . Stop whining , play Rugby , stop cheating and promote the game for what is or write about or play VFL .
Ray
Roar Rookie
Thanks Brett and maybe that is a pathway for him as a coach.
jcmasher
Roar Rookie
Really! I actually completely disagree and that unless you are actually in the scrum then it's unlikely you know as much as the referee about what goes on. Now sure in club land and lower grades it may be a bit different but with the amount of training these professional referees do with scrum coaches and teams I know for a fact that in most cases they are 100% correct in their calls. It's the less educated spectators and commentators that actually have no clue about what is going on and think the referees can't as well.
Steve Lenthall
Roar Guru
Any word of cracking down not straight feeds into scrums? Or is that just a one off done in the first week of the season?
Nick
Roar Rookie
Maybe allow scrums to push as soon as set & that way if your scrum is on top you are A- Pushing them off the ball or B- Earn a free kick not a penalty! Mid 90s to mid 00s was probably the high point of footy. I agree 110% we need to cut down 9n time wasting & limiting resets at scrum before awarding a freekick is a great idea. Also LESS SUBs!!!
cookie
Roar Guru
But Daffyd, a lot of the time they are not rewarding the dominant scrum. They are rewarding what they perceive to be when it is that team the entire reason the scrum is collapsing. As for the short times.. Go back pre 1991 and the scrums were a joke compared to now. I have now doubt that scrums these days could be shorter if they where refereed properly and crafty props/packs were penalised for illegal play rather the the perceived weaker team. The one that really annoys me is the long bind and face planting props causing collapse after collapse and its the so called hinging prop that gets penalised when that player was not the cause. Or how about when upon packing a team shifts their positions at 4/5 and 6/8 and 2/3 to wheel it , yet the perceived dominated team that got wheeled is penalised?
cookie
Roar Guru
Daffyd, Rugby doesn't stop to become a game for the 6’+ & 100kg+ “monsters.” Think about the sheer force and dynamics of scrums. Its 16 players that these days at an international level tend to be 960kg+ packs. Perhaps the scrum needs to be better shown on the screen so people may better appreciate what's happening? Perhaps its a forward thing... ex forwards will likely appreciate the set pieces more than ex backs et al? scrums in league are utterly pointless. Watching 6 tackles of pretty much exactly the same thing of a bloke being tackled, the ball not contestable, laying on the ground bouncing then getting up to roll the ball under ones legs is as exciting as watching paint dry.
cookie
Roar Guru
because at scrum time they haven't got a clue and get it so wrong at times its embarrassing and infuriating for the team that's being wrongly penalised.