Aussie League template is cause of all rugby ills

THERE was always the risk that when “Union” went professional, all those pre Covid-19 years ago, there would be an overwhelming urge to use “League” as the template for the development of the game.

After all what could be quicker and therefore cheaper to commercialise the game. Unfortunately those responsible for this strategy set out on that course and proved to be anything but the lovers of the game.

Generally they fell into two overlapping categories: The “commercial” men who saw an opportunity to make money out the game. Their objective was to make the game faster in the mistaken view that it would be thus more entertaining and attract more spectators, mostly of the couch variety, through lucrative TV deals.

And Australia, who saw the professional game as a means of countering the existential threat to Union posed by League in their country. This view was shared by far too many in the upper echelons of rugby worldwide who feared Australia dropping out of the Tier 1 rugby nations. Of course making money out of this approach would also be a welcome benefit to cash-strapped southern hemisphere countries.

So we have come to a situation where the key differentials between Union and League have become so blurred as to raise the suggestion…let’s just adopt League as the global standard and bury Union once and for all?

In reality we have had forced on us a game which pays lip service to the laws and ethos of Union for the sake of a “few dollars more”. Decisions are increasingly being made or heavily influenced by commercial interests outside of the game whether the players and/or supporters approve or not.

We have reached the farcical situation in England where the sport has never been so unpopular in terms of player numbers than it is now; in part because the RFU is seduced by Twickenham revenue generation at the expense of everything else Union-related.

The game is only faster because at professional level there are essentially four sides competing in any one match not two and the inevitable emphasis is not on stamina to last 80 minutes but on sheer power to be used in short bursts.

The conversion of the line-out and scrum to League inconsequence has actually slowed the game down so over-muscled players can snatch frequent breathers to stay in the game. The ruck has become a “legal” means of assaulting an opposition player in the name of clearing out. Referees advocate publicly the application of laws they so purposely ignore on the pitch.

We have made our beloved game more dangerous not more entertaining. I have no wish to turn the clock back to pre-professional status I just have a desire to see the return of Rugby Union. ARTHUR GRUN, Glos