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SOS to IRB: our game is dying as a spectacle
November 18, 2009 - 9:08AM
The decision to make the breakdown a fair contest for possession is killing rugby as a spectacle, writes Mick Cleary.
What is happening to the game that has given me and many others so much pleasure?
For the first time in 40 years of playing, watching and commenting on the sport, I felt like walking away at half-time at Twickenham on Saturday. It was that dispiriting, that joyless, that mind-numbing. Going Awol, of course, would have led to the sack. I stayed. There were two consolations: matters improved marginally after half-time and I didn't pay for my seat. Pity the punters who forked out for such misery.
Let us leave England's current woes out of it. For this is not about them.
No, this is about the laws of the game. The administrators have to take note. There is too much kicking. Simple as that. Kick after kick after kick.
It is not as if they are beautifully weighted skimmers into the corner, as Phil Bennett used to do. No, they are witless hoofs prompted by fear.
Coaches will tell you that they are triggered by a reading of the percentages, that the stats prove, and South Africa's trophy cabinet illustrates, that a kicking game reaps dividends. Well, if it has come to that, you can keep your dividends. It is a soulless pursuit. It is plain boring, boring to watch and I am sure boring to play.
The nub of the matter concerns the breakdown. A new protocol issued to referees encourages them to cut more slack to the tackler. He is able to get to his feet in an instant after initial release and as long as he is on his feet he is allowed to go for the ball. Conversely the player taking the ball into contact has very little time in which to release or play the ball.
There is more, and possibly it is the key factor in all this. Another directive allows for the first man arriving at the breakdown to put his hands on the ball. He can keeping doing so even after the referee has called "ruck". The upshot is that one player can mess things up considerably, so much so that the opposition arriving at a breakdown fly in to try and remove that thorny obstacle, the bloke with hands on ball, from the scene. Players are flying off their feet.
These are all seemingly little shifts. But they have brought big consequences.
Players are frightened to attack with ball in hand. How many counter-attacks have we seen this season? And how often have we seen the initiative of a solo break upfield lead to a turnover?
It cannot be right when a bit of twinkling feet from the likes of a Matt Giteau runs the severe risk of having a negative outcome because the runner gets isolated. No wonder the try count in the Guinness Premiership is down by around 25-30 per cent this season. That's a massive drop in such a short space of time. Even an innovative, attack-minded coach such as Toby Booth at London Irish has been driven to distraction by it all.
What hope is there? Well, a referees' gathering in London last week urged officials to ensure that the tackler has to let go of the ball-carrier and also to allow a bit more time for things to develop. That message did not seem to have got through to referee Jonathan Kaplan at Croke Park on Sunday. Three times in the first half he allowed only a nanosecond before penalising the carrier for not releasing. He did appear to learn, however, for there was more flow in the second half.
The initial impetus behind these changes was to try to clarify and simplify things for referees at the breakdown. Instead, a greater burden has been put on them. They, too, love the game and are aware that play is being stifled. How many times do you now see more than four or five phases? Very rarely.
Personally, I would bring back the ruck. The administrators won't do that, citing (wrongly) safety issues. But they have to do something. The game is dying as a spectacle.
London Telegraph
"Bloody oath we did!"
Nathan Sharpe, Legend.
Yep, it's a bloody mess alright. The attacking team should be cut the more slack. Perhaps the defenders should be made to release the ball carrier and let him get to his feet before he has to release or play the ball.
Just kiddin'![]()
"The main difference between playing League and Union is that now I get my hangovers on Monday instead of Sunday - Tom David
if you get isolated, then too bloddy bad...
if you tackle someone and are on your feet quickly, attacking to ball,
BAM
you lose the ball... It unfortunate about poeple going off their feet, that is an unfortunate side effect, but it happens at all levels of the game.
"The decision to make the breakdown a fair contest for possession is killing rugby as a spectacle"
Jees, I get sick of these NH folk constantly looking to turn the game into league...!![]()
Watch a game from the 70's or 80's even the 90's and you'll notice it's a vastly different game than we have to put up with now.
Please backs I impore you "Stop kicking the f*****g ball".
15 forwards would fix it. Sorry 14 and a halfback who can also kick conversions.
You are obviously a back.
I'm sick of watching good forward play followed b a few good breaks which then turns into a game of that stupid Victorian game until someone manages to kick it out.
Maybe a few of the heavy boys should walk back and punch the full back, not to hard just so he's a bit groggy and can stay on his feet.
Our game is stuffed if it continues down the current style of play.
I agree there is too much kicking, but how is that the fault of the player?
Why would a Fullback want to run it back just to get tackled with no support and turn the ball over or give away a penalty for holding on?
I think the tackler should be required to release the ball and come onside to attack the ball, but if a player arrives in an onside position and competes for the ball before a ruck is formed, they should be allowed to do so until the ball returns to the ground. something like that would protect posession a bit for the attacking team and still give ample opportunity for well drilled teams to secure turnover ball.
I don't know whether it's the quantity of the kicking that's the problem, it's the quality....all teams seem to be quite happy to hoof it blindly down the field and hope the fullback knocks on or kicks badly. If there was as much kicking, but it went to ground, or out, or anywhere but down the throat of the defender I wouldn't be so depressed by it.
This is not a whinge about Giteau, although he certainly gets heaped with praise for some pretty shitty kicking, Quade was no better, Jonny has been pretty woeful by his standards, about the only kicker who has any claim to quality is Dan Carter.
I reckon 80% of the quality kicks in the current tour have sparked an exciting play, either a chaser is on the spot around the same time as the defender gets the ball, pressuring for a poor return or making a tackle, or the ball goes out forcing a lineout under pressure, or the chaser has a genuine play on the ball. Good kicking is a pleasure to watch......crappy GayFL-style bullshit roosts to the man is not!
C'mon the![]()
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If the fullback is tackled with no support then they should lose possession. That is the risk he takes
If there is support (as there should be, it is a team game) then they should be able to fairly maintain possession.
That is not happening so they kick.
Maybe if you could pass back into the 22 and kick for touch like in the good old days it would stop the aimless punts
All this is over reaction. Rugby doesn't have to be about scoring 10 trys a game, defense's are too good now. As long as there are 2 teams going at 100% to win the game i'll watch it.
If the backs, and the Wallabies have been doing this since Eddie was Coach continue to run away from their support, they will continue to get isolated and loose the pill or be penalised for not releasing the ball in the tackle.
Here is a new thought - run to where the support is.
For far to long our backs have been given the belief that they can break the one on one tackle and score the try - surely this is the only reason why we continue to run away from our own support players. If a back was to run to where our forwards are surely we have a much better chance of retaining and recycling the ball.
Exile
Port Macquarie
"Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It’s a very mean and nasty place and I don’t care how tough you are it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain’t about how hard ya hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done! Now if you know what you’re worth then go out and get what you’re worth. But ya gotta be willing to take the hits, and not pointing fingers saying you ain’t where you wanna be because of him, or her, or anybody! Cowards do that and that ain’t you! You’re better than that!" - Rocky Balboa