Tackling rugby’s issue
Not since William Webb Ellis picked up a ball and ran with it has the game of rugby been presented with such a revitalising opportunity that the ambitious changes to the tackle laws offer.
Predictably, the proposal by the Rugby Football Union and World Rugby to lower the legal tackle height in all competitions below the elite level has created the biggest rift in the ranks since a group of breakaway Yorkshiremen decided to go pro back in 1895.
It was raised in the English House of Commons last week and the very real threat exists that a vote of no confidence in the RFU, which is always the weapon of last resort for frustrated fans and administrators, will be called by outraged community clubs.
I personally find it bewildering that an attempt to protect the heads of the next generation of players could cost the board theirs.
I wouldn’t normally poke mine above the parapet, but I can’t help myself.
Because, in the interests of full disclosure, it is the health of our great game as well as our players that concerns me.
I am intrigued with the concept and excited to see if the tackle law can breathe some much-needed life into the game.
For context, I grew up in the 80s and 90s watching players and the ball attack space. Despite being born a prop (and only ever playing prop) I admired players like Dave Loveridge, Joe Stanley, John Kirwan, Andrew Slack, Mark Ella and David Campese.
Sadly, modern rugby is a far cry from the free flowing and exciting game I fell in love with and have devoted most of my life to.
I don’t like watching players intentionally set rucks to start a sequence of play and I get bored watching endless “pick and go” that travel mere millimetres.
It frustrates me every time my team takes the ball into a ruck that results in a penalty for a technical offence, that would have very little impact on the wider game. I struggle
Sadly, modern rugby is a far cry from the free flowing and exciting game I fell in love with and have devoted most of my life to.
to explain to my non rugby mates why a referee has made a certain ruling, the fact is most of the time I simply don’t know, despite being involved in the game as a player, club coach and administrator for 40+ years.
I believe the proposed tackle laws will have an immediate impact on three critical areas of the game that need addressing:
1. It will be easier to keep the ball alive pre and post contact. The game badly needs more “ball in play” time for both players and spectators.
2. Giving the ball carrier greater opportunities to pass will reduce the number of rucks and by extension, penalties.
3. Defensive lines will have less times to get organised and with more off-loads there should be more space to attack.
Change is hard, especially in a sport so rich in heritage and tradition as rugby union. But if the dwindling participation rates and match and TV audiences aren’t enough cause for concern, the horrific stories of the effects of CTE suffered by the many past players involved in class actions against the sport’s governing bodies cannot be ignored.
There will of course be some unintended negative consequences. Attacking teams will have an overwhelming advantage five meters out from the try line. And the one that will require the most thought and effort on behalf of tackling coaches is that defenders will initially become vulnerable to head knocks if they get their tackle technique wrong. Hips, knees and heads are not a good mix! Inevitably games will become high scoring affairs, much like the early days of Super Rugby. And as we have seen with every tweak of the laws over the past 20 years there will be other unintended consequences that no one would have considered.
Overall, I believe there will be positive safety outcomes for the players that the current laws don’t provide for. I sympathise with the modern player that only knows the current shape of the modern game, the physical demands of carrying that ball into heavy contact, the relentless number of rucks that need to be “cleaned out”.
And if we can do one thing to create more space while protecting the player (often from themselves) then it is our responsibility to the game of Rugby to do this.
Michael Collins had a 13-year professional playing career for the Chiefs in Super Rugby and London Irish and Glasgow Warriors in English Premier Rugby. He has been a coach at provincial level and CEO of the Chiefs and is now the Director of Sport at Bond University.