Stop substitutes standing inside in-goal area before calamity strikes
THERE are three areas of the game that need urgent attention from the slowmotion laws committee at World Rugby, with clear solutions crying out for implementation, despite the huge importance of the concussion writ served on them this week. First in the firing line is the now ever-present danger of the eight substitutes on the sidelines interfering with play. This is most likely when they go through their habitual warm-up routines in the in-goal area or, alternatively, when they are loitering with intent behind the posts waiting to become cheerleaders if their teammates in the starting 15 score a try.
This growing cheerleader presence has an incendiary element to it, because touchdowns are often fiercely contested, including tackles coming in after the ball has been grounded – and there is the obvious danger of bench players in or around the in-goal area becoming involved in altercations.
There was a glaring example at international level recently of how easily track-suited substitutes can get in the way of the match action. It happened when Italy played England at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome in the 2020 Six Nations title decider at the end of October.
The flashpoint came in the final minute of the first half, when, with England leading only 10-5, Italy’s replacement winger, Federico Mori, grabbed a loose lineout deflection in the tramline and chipped-and-chased into the Red Rose in-goal area.
It saw Mori in a neck-and-neck touchdown chase with George Furbank and, as the ball crossed the try-line, the television footage shows at least three Italian subs in the in-goal area, who were ball-watching on the field of play as they moved towards the touchline.
All of them were far too close to the action for comfort, and if there had been a fast ricochet off either Furbank or Mori, both of whom were unable to ground the ball, it could easily have deflected off one of them. This would have left the referee with an unholy mess to untangle.
Luckily, as the ball squirted loose, Jonny May had swept across from the opposite wing, and managed to make the grounding a few feet from the Azzurri subs who had only just crossed the in-goal touchline.
The Italian extras were primed for a pitch invasion to mob Mori in the event that the video replay persuaded the TMO that he had managed to get downward pressure. Instead, he confirmed that May had made the crucial intervention and, thankfully, the cheerleaders were forced to stand down as the halftime whistle sounded.
There are a few sights in modern pro rugby more contrived than the over-the-top theatrics when substitutes mob try-scorers, and it is time for the in-goal area to be reclaimed by match officials.
Once play has crossed the half-way line in their direction, the ingoal area should no longer be used by substitutes for warmingup. If it is used when play is in the opposite half, it should be for limited periods, with only one or two substitutes at a time confined to a 2.5 metre strip across the width of the pitch just before the deadball line. If the in-goal area is too small to accommodate that, then warm-up bikes on the side of the pitch, or in the changing rooms, will have to do.
The substitution rules have already altered the physical balance of the game to its detriment, playing their part in the increase in concussion.
They should not be allowed to influence it any further by substitutes cluttering the in-goal area, because it is only a matter of time before their presence leads to either match-play interference, or altercations between opposing sides if their celebrations – or recriminations – boil over.
Next on the hit-list is the scourge of the ‘caterpillar ruck’. The best solution I have heard to this stultifying tactic came recently from Eddie Jones. The England head coach said he has been a consistent advocate of speeding-up the game, whereas that the caterpillar ruck slows it down – and the beauty of his antidote is its simplicity.
Jones said: “I would bring in a law straightaway that unless you are part of the ruck you cannot play the ball, which would stop the 9s transferring the ball back with their foot. That would speed up the game immediately.”
Last but not least for the chop are water-carrier coaches. Let’s get coaches of all types – defence, attack, skills, scrums, lineouts, or kicking – off the pitch, and sidelines, during matches.
Coaches have had their input in training for weeks, and sometimes months – and what this sport can do without is them running matches through non-stop messages to robotic players who have lost the capacity to think for themselves.
On the pitch it should be a players’ game first and foremost, and they should exercise their initiative, tactical acumen and skill without constantly being told what to do by coaches.