What rugby needs to do to get back to its roots and entertain customers.

[MarkJ]

Leaguies literally have a trainer with bottles on the field behind the attacking team nearly at all times - some blokes probably drink so much water during a game they have to piss at halftime

Think it was in a NRL game on the weekend where a player got crunched in a tackle and then proceed to puke out a litre or two of water

 

[Adam84]

if World Rugby won’t approve rules to improve these issues and the games competitiveness in Australia, I’d argue it’s time RA went rogue with the domestic competition and establish it as a breakaway comp and implement rules as it sees fits.

Still play to WR (World Rugby) rules at test level, but play a domestic comp with rules which entertain.

reality is rugby union has a 5 year window to establish relevancy in the Australian sporting landscape, after that the games cooked. Super Rugby in Australia will collapse, Wallabies will still exist with OS based players but without a professional comp to identify and capture kids out of school, they’ll swap codes and the Wallabies will also be set on a path of terminal decline.

 

[qwerty51]

Where has that bullshit come from?

This is the new rule, it's actually positive. It's meant to stop the water boys from being on the field all the time and only allowed in those designated breaks.

However, having a water break directly after a try was criminal.

 

[Adam84]

This is the new rule, it's actually positive. It's meant to stop the water boys from being on the field all the time and only allowed in those designated breaks.

However, having a water break directly after a try was criminal.

how are they scheduled? I get the concept, but they seem at random times, they should just make it a quick water break at 20min and 60min then.

Broadcasters like pre-defined breaks like that to jam in advertising, and I could use it to run up for a beer as well. Or tell the English wankas behind me to go shove it.

 

[Derpus]

if World Rugby won’t approve rules to improve these issues and the games competitiveness in Australia, I’d argue it’s time Rugby Australia went rogue with the domestic competition and establish it as a breakaway comp and implement rules as it sees fits.

Still play to WR (World Rugby) rules at test level, but play a domestic comp with rules which entertain.

reality is rugby union has a 5 year window to establish relevancy in the Australian sporting landscape, after that the games cooked. Super Rugby in Australia will collapse, Wallabies will still exist with OS based players but without a professional comp to identify and capture kids out of school, they’ll swap codes and the Wallabies will also be set on a path of terminal decline.

Wouldn't WR (World Rugby) bar us from participating at test level if we tried to otherwise break away?

 

[qwerty51]

I think it's pre-agreed upon times, twice a half.

And yes, if we adopt any rules WR (World Rugby) does not approve of, we're breaking the IP of rugby, and we'd be banned from international competition pretty sure.

 

[PhilClinton]

if World Rugby won’t approve rules to improve these issues and the games competitiveness in Australia, I’d argue it’s time Rugby Australia went rogue with the domestic competition and establish it as a breakaway comp and implement rules as it sees fits.

Still play to WR (World Rugby) rules at test level, but play a domestic comp with rules which entertain.

Probably fair to say Australia already try and do this, but then regress things when WR (World Rugby) won't take the rules on. Probably because they know there is no use getting players used to playing under a set of rules, only to be ripped apart at test level.

Going back as far as 2008/09 I know our club competitions all put the short arm rule instead of penalties for at least 1 or 2 seasons, but when it wasn't taken on with WR (World Rugby), they scrapped it.

Same for the NRC, weren't they doing a few things like 2pt penalties?

 

[Braveheart81]

Any law trials or variations need to be approved by World Rugby.

You can't play with laws that aren't approved otherwise you start walking into a grey area of it being unsanctioned and I don't know what happens beyond that. Do you need to declare it is a different sport if you want to use rules that aren't approved by World Rugby?

 

[Derpus]

Any law trials or variations need to be approved by World Rugby.

You can't play with laws that aren't approved otherwise you start walking into a grey area of it being unsanctioned and I don't know what happens beyond that. Do you need to declare it is a different sport if you want to use rules that aren't approved by World Rugby?

There is probably some agreement between RA and WR (World Rugby) that sets all this out.

 

[KevinO]

One rule I really want to see gone is the mark, so many times when a mark is called it ruins what could be a really good contest. It's another needless stoppage in play. Or at least make the kick has to have been taken in the opposition half, it really bother me when the team on attack takes a cross field kick and the defensive player calls a mark after catching the ball in a contest.

 

[PhilClinton]

This is the new rule, it's actually positive. It's meant to stop the water boys from being on the field all the time and only allowed in those designated breaks.

However, having a water break directly after a try was criminal.

If drinks breaks are going to be built into the game as a permanent fixture, I'd almost like to see the game turn into quarters and build some changes around substitutions into that model.

For example make it that you can only make tactical subs during a 'drinks break' or at halftime. Could really add to the fatigue factor and substitution planning knowing you have to play the final 20mins of a game with whomever is on the park.

 

[Adam84]

I think it's pre-agreed upon times, twice a half.

And yes, if we adopt any rules WR (World Rugby) does not approve of, we're breaking the IP of rugby, and we'd be banned from international competition pretty sure.

Andrew Forrest and Global Rapid Rugby was sanctioned with rules outside of the standard rugby rules.

 

[liquor box]

The biggest problem the game has today is the pace it has been deliberately slowed to. This has led to the rise of the rugby behemoths, where rugby players in all but one position must be at least 1.8 metres tall and be somewhere between 100 and 130 kgs of muscle. Park rugby might be played by people of normal dimensions but professional rugby is very different. Games are nominally of 80 minutes duration, but most only consist of 30-35 minutes of actual play. The rest of the time is consumed by stoppages - contrived injury stoppages or patterns of play set-up that take a ridiculous amount of time. Preparation for penalty kicks, preparation for lineouts, setting of scrums, stoppages for minor injuries (real or imagined) all serve to use up valuable playing time.

The solution to that I believe is very simple. You have make an 80 minute game contain at least 60 minutes of play. Then fatigue comes into play and skilled players and fit players can take advantage of that. You need to change some rules to make play more continuous (probably not the ones you are thinking of):

So I propose the following:

1. All penalties must be taken and be complete within 30 seconds of the referee making the mark. The TMO does the calc and immediately notifies the ref that time has expired. Failure to complete in time is a free kick to the other team.
2. Lineouts must be taken as soon as the referee arrives at the spot in line with the AR. Failure to take the throw immediately is a free kick to the defending team. Mucking around by either team is a full arm penalty to the other.
3. Unless the injury is catastrophic - head or neck injury or broken bone - play will continue while the player is treated. An immediate substitution is allowed if the player injured is critical to play ie a front rower. That player has 20 seconds to get to his position while the other player is being attended to. Officials will not be allowed to interfere with this process to slow it down unless a team is clearly cheating. The substitution can be reversed within five minutes without penalty if the injured player recovers. Otherwise it is a normal substitution.
4. As soon as the ball is available for the halfback, the referee shall call "balls out" and defenders are free to advance beyond the offside line. The current caterpillar ruck is banned.

The attrition rate for the first few matches would be interesting but it would soon settle down into 60 minutes actually played in every game and the spectators would rejoice.

1 - Why can't penalties be changed to drop goals rather than place kicks? It will either speed things up or encourage teams to go for more tries.
2- Agree there needs to be a speed up, I would also like to see infringements for throws not being straight restricted to only apply if a line out is genuinely contested. If you dont contest then you dont deserve the ball.

I would also mandate taping boot laces so they don't come undone and stopping the clock on a more regular basis, maybe when advantage is being played the time should be noted and if play goes back to the infringement then the clock gets adjusted too.

 

[qwerty51]

Andrew Forrest and Global Rapid Rugby was sanctioned with rules outside of the standard rugby rule.

You can play with non-standard rules, they just need to approved.

Rapid Rugby conditionally sanctioned by World Rugby

Andrew Forrest's new-look Rapid Rugby competition has been conditionally sanctioned by the World Rugby Council and it's dates are set to clash with the more established Super Rugby tournament.

www.espn.com.au

What WR (World Rugby) would approve and reject not sure but I would imagine any tinkering with something significant like substitutions wouldn't get approved.

 

[liquor box]

If drinks breaks are going to be built into the game as a permanent fixture, I'd almost like to see the game turn into quarters and build some changes around substitutions into that model.

For example make it that you can only make tactical subs during a 'drinks break' or at halftime. Could really add to the fatigue factor and substitution planning knowing you have to play the final 20mins of a game with whomever is on the park.

I love that idea in relation to subs only being allowed during the breaks.

 

[gel]

Is this about rugby as a whole, or just rugby in Australia?

I believe a lot of the changes have been made to suit the home nations audiences, so from an entertainment point of view I believe they have the game they largely want.

One of the polls up there even indicated that the best result to come out of a scrum was a penalty ffs!!!!

 

[qwerty51]

I think if marks were allowed anywhere inside your own half that would stop a lot of the box kicking. I'd try to protect the receivers more too to discourage the high bombs too but not sure what that would look like, perhaps something like on kicks further than 20m only the receiver is allowed to contest and the chasing team has to stay out of a 1m radius from the receiver until they land.

 

[Adam84]

You can play with non-standard rules, they just need to approved.

Rapid Rugby conditionally sanctioned by World Rugby

Andrew Forrest's new-look Rapid Rugby competition has been conditionally sanctioned by the World Rugby Council and it's dates are set to clash with the more established Super Rugby tournament.

www.espn.com.au

This is my point, it is possible but isn’t happening, WR (World Rugby) are a bureaucratic mess of middle aged men from Europe that don‘t see the benefit in these variations for Australia.

That is why RA need to play it tough on getting some of these approved and threaten to breakaway if WR (World Rugby) aren’t going to improve them, if nothing more then to ram home the importance of the issue. Sick of the ELV’s which don’t go far enough to address the issues and then get rejected by board members made up of euroupean representatives.

 

[qwerty51]

Breakaway and do what, the majority of income comes from the Wallabies... I'd love the priority to be the domestic game but not without the Wallabies at all.

 

[Adam84]

Breakaway and do what, the majority of income comes from the Wallabies... I'd love the priority to be the domestic game but not without the Wallabies at all.

i said keep wallabies playing WR (World Rugby) rules. WR (World Rugby) would be remiss to ban Wallabies because a domestic tournament plays rule variations. There’s no rule against selecting a NRL or AFL player for the Wallabies.

In either case, Wallabies wont exist in 20 years, at least not competitively or professionally if we cant establish a sustainable domestic tournament.