Rugby union its own worst enemy in battle of the codes

IN my view, the game of rugby union has a greater problem than the now-mundane invincibility of the New Zealand All Blacks.

There are a number of fundamental turn-offs for me as a former representative player and, now, an average watcher of the game.

Firstly, there are so many rules governing the playing of the game that, not only do I do not know some of them (and most former players should admit they don’t) but the refereeing application of them is frustratingly beyond my understanding in many instances (as opposed to rugby league, which is far simpler and I can referee from my arm chair).

Take, for example, the now systemic and monotonous incorrect feeding of the scrums by the half backs, where the ball does not go down the middle, but is put in at an angle – every time. At least rugby league has the common sense to allow “angle in” feeds and the public has now come to accept that. I will never accept that the power and muscle of a rugby union scrum should be compromised by half backs being allowed to cheat by “angle in” feeding of the scrum.

In relation to the scrum generally, I will leave my scathing comments to another time, for the problem that it has become is only exceeded by the blessing that there are infinitely fewer of them in a game than when I played as a front rower.

Secondly, rugby is a game of time and space where, at the ruck and maul, the attacking team has little to none, for reasons that are obvious (again, in rugby league, its “play the ball” gives infinitely greater opportunity for running and passing the ball, in space). My frustration reaches high intensity when referees regularly fail to enforce the “defending team standing behind the last feet” rule. In my view this is a massive systemic corruption of the rules and the integrity of the game (rugby league addressed this issue long ago with two referees).

Thirdly, the unattractive and outdated shambles that is the rolling maul and the “pick and drive”. These two pieces of old-school “bums rushing” pileups are used as try-scoring methods (rather than territory-gaining methods, if indeed they should be part of an expansive game at all). If they are to stay a part of the game, they should be outlawed inside the defending team’s 22, to encourage more creative try scoring.

Finally, there is the “held up over the line – attacking team’s put-in to 5m scrum”. Why is it that when a team defends for sometimes up to 20 tackles, culminating in holding up the attempted try scorer over the line, that this defensive effort is not rewarded with the defending team being given the put-in to the scrum?

The game of rugby union in Australia is now being challenged in its heartland of the private schools by the more spectacular, less technical and expansive body contact games of Australian football and rugby league. I think these games have done their homework and, with the money they possess, will rip the game of rugby union apart unless it redefines how it is played and refereed. It needs to conduct a public review of itself, before it is too late, if it is not already.