Rugby laws need a radical change

ENGLAND were without their co-captain, the New Zealander Dylan Hartley, and their best forward, the public schoolboy Maro Itoje (Nigerian parents) so had to play with just 10 public schoolboys: Elliot Daly, Henry Slade, Owen Farrell, Ben Youngs, Jamie George, Kyle Sinckler, Tom Curry, George Kruis and Jonny May. (So much for a “people’s game”.)

The first team was supplemented by Chris Ashton (ex-rugby league), the Samoan Manu Tuilagi (whose five brothers play for Samoa), Mako Vunipola (a public schoolboy, born in New Zealand to Tongan parents) and his brother, Billy (born in Australia).

Courtney Lawes and Mark Wilson were the only non-public schoolboys among the English players in the starting 15.

The Fijian Nathan Hughes came on as a substitute, along with the public schoolboy George Ford.

England has 16-17 times the registered players of Wales but supplements its elite public schoolboys with very, very good foreign players. Wales has only two world-class scrum-halves but will not pick Rhys Webb (Welsh through and through), because he plays at a higher standard in France than in the Welsh regions.

The WRU idea, mistakenly called “Gatland’s Law”, was to strengthen Welsh regional rugby clubs by forcing excellent Welsh players to play in Wales to be selected for the national team.

One wonders if Gareth Bale should be selected for the Welsh football team by this criterion.

Cardiff City always has more than 30,000 spectators for each home game, far more than the four Welsh regional rugby clubs combined.

Regional rugby has failed. The idea that we can strengthen Welsh rugby by making international-class players perform in a secondary environment has not worked.

Youngsters are attracted into rugby by a strong national team, not by struggling regions.

Children drop out of rugby from the age of 12 because it has become a game of violent contact, not a game of avoiding contact by passing the ball. Rugby union is now quite unattractive in terms of time that the ball is in play, skills and atmosphere.

I urge anyone who disagrees to watch Cardiff City, with singing from the Canton End throughout the game. Rugby laws desperately need changing, with a weight limit per team at the top levels, as the game is dying in terms of participation and spectators.

Wales can only win the Rugby World Cup by picking its top players – the omission of Webb for no good reason is moronic. We need to play to our strengths – there is not one rugby follower in Wales who disagrees – and it is time for the WRU to rescind its stupid ruling, which is probably in restraint of trade and harmful to Welsh rugby. Terry Breverton Penarth