Stop the clock until ball is back in play

I WOULD like to add my opinion to the discussion on time-wasting and lack of entertainment in modern rugby.

The onset of fatigue towards the end of games would create space and more try scoring so reduce the number of substitutes and stop time-wasting at the set-piece.

During a recent All Blacks–Argentinia game I stopped the game clock on the ref ’s whistle for scrums and lineouts, restarting it when the ball was back in play. Time wasted at scrums amounted to 20 minutes and lineouts eight minutes. Adding this time would create fatigue.

During the last World Cup I applied the same techniques to a dozen games and got the same result – at least 25 per cent of game time lost at scrums and lineouts.

The authorities and players have forgotten the basic premise that they are in the entertainment business.