The modern game is better - and here’s why
With no live rugby to watch, the broadcasters have been replaying games from years ago.
Sky showed the three Lions Tests from 2001, while BT Sports have been showing old Premiership games – some of the clubs have also been streaming their greatest hits. Entertaining as they are, the conclusion I’ve come to is that rugby today is better than ever.
The main reason for this is, of course, the way that the laws have evolved over the years, meaning that on more occasions nowadays we actually get the right result in matches! There will always be those that want to go back to the ‘good’ old days, but their affection is misplaced.
If matches from 20 years ago were played under today’s laws there would be hardly anyone left on the pitch after 80 minutes! Head-high tackles, ‘seatbelt’ tackles, use of the boot, the odd punch – those were all part of the game, whereas nowadays they would attract yellow or red cards.
Watching scrums, it’s amazing to me that we ever allowed the impact between the front rows on the engagement, but we did up until 2007, and then in 2013 the requirement to bind before pushing was introduced. To anyone brought up on modern rugby the old-style scrums look horrific!
Line-outs in those early noughties matches also look amateurish compared to today. Even in the Lions matches of 2001 – lifting was legalised two years previously – players don’t get very high. When compared to today’s ultra-slick line-outs it’s chalk and cheese.
The biggest improvement though, by far, is the use of the TMO. I watched the Powergen Cup final of 2003 between Northampton Saints and Gloucester, and you could make a case that the game ended with the wrong result.
James Forrester scooted over for Gloucester, and clearly dropped the ball in the act of touching down. The referee and touch judges missed it – nothing wrong with that – and the TMO, who was in Sky’s truck, wasn’t in those days allowed to intervene!
Just think about it: he almost certainly spotted a clear mistake in a really big game, but he wasn’t allowed to help the ref – what sort of a way to run a sport was that?
That archaic nonsense about the referee being the sole arbiter. The problem is that the sole arbiter messed up on innumerable occasions, and nobody seemed to mind!
In that game I also spotted reckless use of the boot, a clear punch that was thrown, and plenty of off-the-ball action, all unpunished.
Yet, you still hear people moaning about the additional time it takes to involve the TMO. If I’m a fan, watching my club or my country, win or lose I’m happier if I believe the result was the correct one, not one based on clear mistakes that weren’t corrected.
In fairness, there were two areas where things were better back then: the players were more respectful, even when they knew the ref had messed up, and there was none of the nonsense about scrum-halves having to lift the ball before they became fair game – as soon as the 9’s hands touched the ball the opposition could get stuck in. Those two apart, rugby is so much better nowadays.
Bernard Laporte fancies becoming vice-chairman of World Rugby, so he needs something to draw attention to his campaign, and what he’s come up with is a World Club Challenge. The fatal flaw in his proposal is the obvious one: what has he, or anyone in World Rugby, got to do with the various club leagues that currently exist?
His proposal is all about power: him trying to garner it by being elected vice-chairman, and World Rugby desperately trying to retain a role for themselves as people increasingly question their relevance.
There were major blunders in their organisation of last year’s RWC, their proposed Nations Championship went down like a lead balloon, and beyond co-ordinating lawmakers across the hemispheres, you have to wonder what the 100+ staff do that couldn’t be accomplished elsewhere?
If the leagues want to have a cross-hemisphere competition they are perfectly capable of organising one, and agreeing how the money will be divvied out – they don’t need World Rugby’s help.
When the Covid-19 pandemic is over, I reckon people will question the cost and the value of World Rugby, and there might not be the same appetite for flying hordes of rugby players around the world!