Sarries battle on in Europe
English aces a hit with the ‘fake fans’
ENGLISH players and artificial crowd noises were the big hits as Australia’s NRL burst back onto screens around the world.
Former Wigan half-back George Williams produced one of the performances of the round for high-flying Canberra, playing alongside fellow Englishmen Josh Hodgson and Elliott Whitehead.
The decision to import fake fan noises was met with a largely positive response, along with a rule that scraps penalties for tackle infringements and instead resets the tackle count.
And with the action being shown in 70 countries across the globe – including all eight games on Sky Sports – rugby league Down Under has never been so widely watched.
Former Great Britain international Phil Clarke, who played for Sydney Roosters and is now a Sky pundit, says the changes have actually improved the
SARACENS will complete their Champions Cup defence – even if they are no longer in English rugby’s top flight when the tournament resumes.
The north Londoners, condemned to relegation next season for salary cap breaches, are waiting for a date to travel to Dublin for their quarter-final against Leinster.
It remains unclear when
■ spectacle. Clarke said: “I watched the behind-closed-doors games before the lockdown and didn’t like the silence, and the crowd effects added to the coverage. “They have four different sound engineers working to make sure different noises are added depending on whether teams are attacking or defending and that worked well. “The rule change seemed to make the game faster and flow better.
“Rugby league needs a natural flow to it, so that fatigue becomes an important element and it’s not just about power.
“The new ‘six again’ rule allows the team at fault to be penalised without interrupting that rugby in Britain and Ireland will be able to restart, raising the possibility the new season will have started before this European campaign has finished.
But Champions Cup boss Simon Halliday last night said: “Saracens have qualified for the quarterfinals and I’ll defend their right to complete the flow. I noticed that (England coach) Eddie Jones commented on it and used it as an example that World Rugby should look at when making rule changes to make rugby union faster and a better spectacle.
“He loves his rugby league and he’s been saying in rugby union circles that it’s been a success.
“The other important factor is that if the NRL has been criticised for anything in the past, it’s for being a bit too structured.
“The new rule seems to encourage a greater spontaneity and that’s good for the game.”
Clarke sees the Roosters, Canberra and table-topping Parramatta as the most likely champions.
But he says newcomers to the sport should look to New Zealand Warriors, who committed to moving their entire squad to Australia to help restart the competition.
“It’s a fascinating story of sacrifice,” Clarke added.
“How many people would move away from their home and family for several months to do their job?”
Champions Cup campaign, no matter what.
“As long as we can complete the tournament, they should be allowed to participate for as long as they keep on winning.”
The English Premiership hopes to restart, using two neutral venues, in mid-august, with clubs given the green light to return to non-contact training yesterday.