Last week, it was reported by sources in New Zealand that World Rugby in 2016 would continue its trials with proposed new Laws for the sport of rugby union. The new variations will be tried and tested in 2016 across a variety of competitions with the most high profile being the National Provincial Championship in New Zealand while a number of the Laws have already been tested this year in both Wales and South Africa. World Rugby proposals for new Laws aim to promote more tries, a faster game and a better spectacle for the supporter, but if it isn’t broke, then why fix it? The success of the 2015 Rugby World Cup in a commercial and sporting sense will lead many fans towards that question.
World Rugby Proposals Suggest No End to the Tinkering of the Laws
The Changes (In Brief)
• Two Referees on the field
• Offside line now one metre from the tackle
• Removal of the ‘gate’ entry, so long as a player is onside can enter from any angle
• Tackler no longer has 360 degree rights to the ball
• Try worth 6 points, conversion, penalty and drop goal 2 points and a penalty try to be worth 8 points with no conversion needed.
The Tinkering Continues
World Rugby or in their previous incarnation the International Rugby Board (IRB) have made changes before to the glorious sport that they have been entrusted with to develop. Emphasis on player welfare and spectator experience are high on the agenda for them to spread the game across the world and these goals can be seen in the current World Rugby proposals. More tries equals more excitement in the most simplistic terms which is precisely what the change in points is aiming for. World Rugby, however, has a fantastic brand of rugby for those in need of tries a minute and Sevens is excelling and is more than accessible for all players and fans as we head into the year that it gains Olympic Status. The notion that fans want more tries and adapting the scoring system to do this, has echoes of football (soccer) in the 1990’s in the USA. Calls were made that football was boring, not enough goals, Americans needed end to end excitement to adapt to the game and proposals were suggested from the sensible to downright crazy. Widened goals, player specific locations but all it needed was time, the USA is now embracing football. No changes were made, just the beautiful game in its traditional glory and is now excelling.
Is rugby broken? Is it in need of drastic changes? Not according to the body behind the proposals, World Rugby have announced this week that the 2015 Rugby World Cup was the most competitive yet with the average winning margin down to 22 points and indeed tries being high on the agenda with an average of five tries per match in the knockout and five in the Final itself. This report shows how strong the brand of rugby has become, the success of the Japanese side in promoting the sport in next host nation was incredible after their victory over South Africa. Imagine please, this new found support of rugby in Japan, tuning into watch rugby after a brief foray away only to find the rules have changed. It seems incredulous to shift the parameters of the sport that is being developed and spread around the world part way through the push for world domination.
A Player’s Eye View
From a player’s perspective, particularly a back rowers, two points for a penalty seems a no brainer when given the option of conceding six for a try. This will no doubt lead to increase in the number of yellow cards distributed so if you are a fan of 15 against 15 then you may be out of luck. The emphasis on player welfare in recent months appears to have fallen by the way side, being able to enter the breakdown from any angle but onside will mean far greater hits from the side not to mention adding a metre to the impact collisions that have been the centre of attention as concussion and serious injury has come to the fore in rugby. The opening of the ‘gate’ means that any player who has managed to get hands on the ball is now open to attack from any onside position and anyone who has managed to do this in their playing days will know the trepidation that comes when expecting a hit just from the front with hands on. At least it is possible to brace for those hits, under these Laws it will be disastrous and painful to say the least.
A referee’s life is never going to be easy, the introduction of a greater use of Television Match Officials (TMO’s) has seen them brought even more into the spotlight. Every decision is examined and assessed from all manner of angles and still the correct decision is not made. Now there will be two people that coaches, players and supporters can blame for their own failings. In theory the idea of two referees is fantastic and has been widely tested in particularly in Australia’s National Rugby League. Still the debating of decisions continues and ultimately as much as fans would like deny it this is a large part of why people love sport, they can argue about it, discuss it in the pub, write blogs, and people love sport because it isn’t always perfect but it’s something to be part of.
These changes will have a negative impact on traditional, long term supporters and players who no doubt struggle with many of the current ‘interpretations’ of the Laws of the game but it will have the biggest impact on those who have just joined the rugby family. It is not always about spreading the game with every decision made but rather a need to retain those new fans as well as the old. The brand of rugby is incredibly strong at the moment, on the back of the success of the Rugby World Cup, its reintroduction to the Olympics, the growing strength of tier two nations and Super Rugby’s expansion into new territories it is time World Rugby left the sport to evolve and develop under their tutelage, rather than changing the foundations that all of this progress stands upon.
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