RedsHappy
Tony Shaw (54)
R Wilson's view re the place of afternoon rugby @ SFS:
ARU finally sees light
by: Rebecca Wilson The Daily Telegraph June 23, 2012
RUGBY union's tenuous grip on major football code status has been loosening since ARU boss, John O'Neill, returned to the fold from that other sick footy chook, Football Federation Australia.
O'Neill's second tenure as boss has been anything but spectacular, marked by a generally terrible brand of football across Australia's Super 15 teams, dramatically declining crowd numbers in NSW and the reappointment of a Wallabies coach who had overseen the emptying of the trophy cabinet for two years.
Today, however, we have small cause for celebration and, I can report with a modicum of joy, that it might mean the penny has finally dropped at ARU headquarters.
Today's Test against Wales at Allianz Stadium is a return to those days in rugby history when Sydney was the heartland of the code, Tests were played in daylight and people who actually liked rugby went to games.
The former Sydney Football Stadium is a joyous place to watch league and union.
But it is rugby union where it shines, with the crowd traditionally gathering just before kick-off after pouring out of the local pubs of Paddington and Surry Hills.
Rugby Tests at this stadium are a celebration of community. You feel like you are part of a rugby family living in a village of like-minded souls.
Rugby disappeared up its own rear end when Australia hosted the World Cup back in 2003. It became all about the corporates and jamming as many of them as possible into cavernous stadiums that had no historical connection to the sport.
Australian Rugby lost sight of its roots, opting to turn itself into a business first and game second. The result of that folly is clear for all to see - budget blowouts, falling Test match crowds and a national side that had forgotten to run the ball.
All of a sudden, Bledisloe Cup matches were being played in Melbourne, where nobody really gives a toss about who wins or who is playing.
They are soulless affairs, inhabited by sponsors and rugby tragics who could be bothered travelling from interstate. There is no pre-match hype, no meeting mates at the local pub and no sense of a home ground advantage.
Night Tests have become the norm, with Sydney's new rugby "home", the former Olympic stadium at Homebush.
It might pack the crowds in but the place shuts down at full-time and the torturous carpark queue is as close as you get to mingling with like-minded rugby fans.
Today, we herald the return of common sense to rugby Test match scheduling.
Club rugby has been put on hold for the day so genuine fans can attend.
They will see a rejuvenated Wallabies side playing a top-class Welsh team coming off two unexpected losses against the home team.
The acting Wallabies captain, David Pocock, is an apt leader for today's clash.
He plays rugby with a passion and fire that harks back to the grand days of SCG rugby Tests.
All indications are that he might well be the man to lead Australia out of the dark. Certainly the past two Tests have seen the Wallabies run the ball more than they have for three years.
A diabolical World Cup in New Zealand and some worse than poor Super XV performances mean that even rugby diehards are fed up with their game. Too much kicking, not enough running and scrummaging laws that require a degree to decipher have put the code at serious risk of dropping off the radar.
Instead of listening to what fans want, the ARU has pigheadedly ploughed ahead with its corporates first strategy. John O'Neill and his staff love big talking but they have forgotten what attracts fans to the game - simple things such as running rugby, a great match day atmosphere and a big happy crowd.
Fans have voted with their feet by deserting the Waratahs this season.
Sydneysiders have a chance to see rugby redeem itself today. Daytime Tests have a ready-made sense of history that harks back to the days when the Sydney Cricket Ground played host to some of the great rugby Test matches.
There was really not much better than a chilly winter's afternoon spent watching the shadows grow long at the SCG.
Allianz Stadium on a late June afternoon hosting two fine rugby nations in a Test match. Call me old fashioned but, for a rugby fan who has hankered for something good to happen to this code for more than a few years, it doesn't get much better.
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