The great and the good of World Rugby gathered recently for a conference, encouragingly entitled The Shape of the Game. This gave a lot of hope that rugby’s foremost experts would come up with proposals that are critically needed. But my hopes were in vain – all that remains is utter disappointment, an opportunity lost.
The conference outcomes are remarkable more for what is not mentioned, rather than what’s getting the headlines. Not one single word has emerged about the problems around the brutality of head-high hits, the causation of concussion and dementia, whether at the breakdown or at the tackle. This omission confirms the deep, unhealthy divide within unions and World Rugby on these grave issues which challenge the very existence of rugby.
The custodians, the guardians, of the game and of its future were brought together at enormous expense but failed to reach any consensus on how to prevent the potential for catastrophic injury. So much for the shape of the game.
With no plan to rein in the danger, we see it all repeated ad nauseam, week after week. There is no let-up. You can take your pick of some really nasty stuff over the last two weekends. Here’s just one. A diving headbutt by Perpignan’s captain, Mathieu Acebes, on La Rochelle’s Jonathan Danty, who was lying defenceless under a ruck.
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Danty refused to accept an apology on social media, saying it was made for judicial hearing purposes only. Presumably, the conference had the power to remove the existing risible reductions in sentencing (50 per cent off for apologising), which would mean deterrent suspensions but, again, silence.
Not a whisper either about returning the scrum to its intended purpose of restarting the game, rather than being a penalty-generating machine. The solution may well be found in restricting the forward movement of a scrum to a metre or so, and insisting that the ball is used – as at ruck time – once it’s available to play, akin to the U19 laws. In the search for more ball-in-play time, getting it away quickly from the scrum would cut down on the number of penalties and resets, and make it easier to referee. As things are, it’s too often mission impossible for the man in the middle.
Instead, matches will continue to be won by teams who physically pulverise the opposition and introduce massive “bomb squads” as soon as their starters begin to fade. The original reason for allowing three specialist front row replacements was two-fold: safety, and the avoidance of uncontested scrums. However, such worthy notions have long been forgotten, completely demolished by the current usage of these replacements – another serious conference failure, this should have been addressed.
Not addressed either was the non-observance of the scrum straight put-in, therefore things will continue with the current situation which ridicules the game, while the powers that be, strangely, seem content with it.
And nothing at all on the advantage law, which, if applied properly, would reduce significantly the number of penalties. Perhaps one positive outcome is the intention to reduce the input from the Television Match Official, but given that referees must be error-free, it’s likely to be difficult to lessen their TMO relationship.
One eye-catching announcement concerns the time allowed for kicks at goal. The recommendation is that tournaments, including the Six Nations, utilise shot clocks to time conversions and penalties – 90 seconds for the former and 60 for the latter.
This, we are told, is all part of “reimagining” the game. But hang on, these timings have been in the laws for a long time, they are not new. Similarly, that scrums must be ready to form within 30 seconds is also not new. These only contain the appearance of novelty because, borrowing from Shakespeare’s Hamlet, they have always been “more honoured in the breach than in the observance”.
The shot clock, while having nothing to do with the dangers of seeing how many tequilas can be lowered in one minute, does, however, come with a serious health warning of its own. As always, the devil is unearthed in the detail.
Cast your mind forward for a moment to the rapidly approaching World Cup. A foul-play penalty gives Ireland the chance to reach that long-elusive semi-final. As Johnny Sexton runs up to kick the match winner, the ball falls over. There is no time to replace it, the final whistle blows. The possibility of sheer chance deciding matches of this importance is surely a bridge too far and is scant justice for the preceding dangerous play. The acid test for any new proposal is to analyse the worst possible outcomes and it’s hard to see how this passes its NCT inspection.
Far better for the referee to warn the kicker to speed up the next time if he exceeds the limit, but it should not be by just a handful of seconds, it should be a clear infraction. The Six Nations will hopefully pass on this one – but the TV companies will love it.
Next to the “power play” and we’re not sure if you’ll believe this one. The RFU suggested a Blackadder-like cunning plan, a new elite competition where, once per match, each captain can select an opponent who must go to the sin bin. You might need to read that again. This proposal has so many unintended consequences, including safety, that it would require a special supplement to cover every angle. It doesn’t need much imagination, or even the newly found reimagining of World Rugby, to see a real nightmare in this one. It should be killed off, quickly.
[ Johnny Sexton’s upright tackling technique is again in the dockOpens in new window ]
Yes, more ball-in-play time is definitely needed, less penalties too, and appropriate measures can be taken to reach this end. Several are already in the Laws of the Game, so that should be the obvious starting point. What is not needed is an attempt to turn rugby into an all-singing, all-dancing sport. To do so would be a profound error.
And on the dangerous stuff, don’t forget that Nero fiddled while Rome burned.
