Eddie's flip flop on ELVs

[travelling_gerry]

Eddie's flip flop on ELVs

By Iain Payten
August 30, 2008 ONCE a strident critic of "boring" English rugby, it appears former Australia coach Eddie Jones has well and truly swapped camps.


Jones has delivered a damning attack on the ELVs, likening them to Twenty20 cricket and blaming Australia for trying to push entertainment over quality.

Speaking at a launch of the English Premiership, new Saracens coach Jones was singing from the same hymn sheet as most northern naysayers despite the fact rugby competitions in the UK only begin watered-down trials of the new laws this weekend.

"The important thing is to improve rugby," Jones said. "To judge the ELVs you have to ask have they made the game better?

"Better does not necessarily mean more entertaining. We don't want rugby to be Twenty20 cricket."

Jones said Australia had different motivations to most other rugby nations in wanting to push the ELVs.

"The pressure on rugby in Australia is to win fans. They're competing directly against Aussie rules, rugby league and football. All three are simple motion games where the ball is always in play," he said.

"To compete, the Super 14 has become a quick-tap motion game. The ball is in play a lot but that doesn't create a better game, it creates entertainment - to the detriment of rugby."

Though this appears to bypass logic - namely sport is more attractive if it is less entertaining - Jones said rugby could add new formats to suit the pesky fans who want to see tries scored.

He proposed a 12-a-side competition with two 20-minute halves called Twenty12.




http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,...-23217,00.html

[Flamethrower]

Though this appears to bypass logic - namely sport is more attractive if it is less entertaining - Jones said rugby could add new formats to suit the pesky fans who want to see tries scored.

He proposed a 12-a-side competition with two 20-minute halves called Twenty12.

I've come up with an entertaining new game. It's called "Get Eddie". the game can be played anywhere that Eddie is. You could score points by hitting him with rotten fruit and vegetables. The highest points would come by hitting him in the mouth with a tomato while he's bitching about Australia.