An entertaining spectacle...

The opportunity is there to create a spectacle that is entertaining, says John O'Neill

Bret Harris From: The Australian February 03, 2010 12:00AM

IT was appropriate ARU chief executive John O'Neill -- the big-picture man of Australian rugby -- launched the Super 14 series at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney yesterday.

With referees set to free up the game with a new set of law interpretations, O'Neill painted a picture of the Super 14 as a creative, almost artistic, competition, as opposed to the perception of it as a boring and negative spectacle.

"We want to avoid negativity," O'Neill said. "Some coaches will go out and deliberately play negative, spoiling rugby and win, but the phrase is they win ugly. You might find there is no one in the stadium and there is no one watching on television.

"If people have the right mindset, the opportunity is there to create a spectacle that is entertaining and winning."

O'Neill was optimistic the new law interpretations would be used in this year's Tri-Nations tournament if they promoted attractive, attacking rugby in the Super 14.


The interpretations would be monitored and referees who did not comply would be demoted.

"I think Tri-Nations will follow suit," O'Neill said. "We are in the entertainment business. Our fortunes are very much reflected on the viewing audience, television and people through the turnstiles, support from sponsors and generally the feel-good factor. We know what we need to do. Time to stop talking. Time for action."

But beauty is in the eye of the beholder and while Australia's Super teams all support attacking rugby, they have their own definitions of what it actually means.

The Brumbies, described as the Real Madrid of Australian rugby following their acquisition of Wallabies superstars Matt Giteau and Rocky Elsom, will certainly benefit from the opening up of the game. "Everyone is talking up wanting to move the football more," Brumbies coach Andy Friend said. "These law interpretations will allow us to do that.

"Everyone wants to do that, to be honest. We certainly do. It will suit our style of play and our style of footballer. We are looking to be able to move the ball from all parts of the field. If you give us space, we want to be able to take it."

Waratahs captain Phil Waugh said playing attacking rugby was more about skill execution in all areas of the game than just spinning the ball out wide.

"It's not necessarily throwing the ball from side to side and making it look pretty," Waugh said.

"With all the talk about excitement I think the most important thing is for everyone to see a well-skilled team on the field."

Force captain Nathan Sharpe said the Perth-based team would continue to play attacking rugby, but would vary its approach to include more kicking for field position, following the recruitment of former Springboks five-eighth Andre Pretorius.

"We will definitely look to attack," Sharpe said. "That's the way we like to play football. But we will vary things a bit. You look at a guy like Andre who controls the game very well. The game is going to be a lot more about field position."

The Reds have been the most attack-focused Australian team in recent years, but their priority is to improve their defence under new coach Ewen McKenzie.

"Defence has been something of a weak point for us," Reds captain James Horwill said. "We are still wanting to play attacking football like we have, but we have to tighten up the defensive side of things and not leak as many points. We are putting a big focus on it."

Meanwhile, O'Neill suggested Super rugby, shown exclusively on Fox Sports, would receive some form of exposure on free-to-air television when the new broadcast agreement was announced in the next few weeks.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news...-1225826092903