Keep rugby simple for more fluidity
SO, following the “turgid” WalesEngland game there are now calls for more law changes to stop the endless kicking and defence tactics now blighting the sport.
Ironic since many of the law changes to have taken place since the Eighties have been to improve the flow of the game. Whenever you change anything in life, there are always consequences, sometimes for the better, often for the worse.
I’m not suggesting, though, that we go back to the laws of the game as they were in the 70s. The new professional game, with stronger, bigger, faster players makes that impossible. Some of the law changes have been made for player safety after all.
What is clear is that due to the changes we are now in the situation where we no longer have 16 forwards committing to the breakdown. So there are extra players now strung out across the field in defence. Hence the emphasis on defence, the difficulty in exploiting gaps and the endless kicking to try to create an opening or remove the risk of running out of defence and getting turned over.
England are currently picking their team with only a couple of backs on the replacement bench as a direct response to the way the game has developed. Can’t blame them really.
Changing the laws again runs the risk of causing more unforeseen problems and also making a somewhat already complex game even harder. There is an old maxim: KISS, or keep it simple, stupid.
Perhaps we just need fewer forwards on the pitch – six instead of eight? The scrum has become mainly a restart mechanism anyway, particularly as referees in the main ignore the crooked put-in to speed up the game. Also, less weight in the scrum might improve safety and allow simplification of the present scrummage laws.
At the same time, ban the ridiculous player substitution law so that substitutions can only be allowed for injury. Tired players find it harder to tackle and more gaps will open up as a result. Or just convert to Rugby League rules. Oh dear...
Alan Kay Stokesley, North Yorkshire