I don’t watch the Six Nations any more. Not because of any one reason but because of a whole bunch of them. Most notably though because I don’t like the laws. They’ve made the game boring. And here’s why.
Rugby union has been spoiled by political correctness, the health and safety brigade and general do-gooders who have used fear (yes that old political tool) to take the control of the game out of the players hands and into those of the referees . I haven’t watched the Scotland versus Wales game yet and probably won’t because by all  journalistic accounts it was spoiled by the referee Craig Jouberts’ whistle. I haven’t watched the Scotland v Ireland game yet because by all accounts it was spoiled by referee Wayne Barnes’ whistle. And that’s the point. It’s got boring.
These guys are good referees. They are the best of the best. But they are forced to referee laws at the breakdown which are a) too strict and b) should be refereed by the PLAYERS themselves. Yes – remember those guys? The players? The ones who DIDN’T vote or lobby for the “No Boots On Bodies” law? That’s right. And that’s the problem with rugby.
I would point you to this recent article written by Brian Moore for The Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/6927871/Brian-Moore-when-and-why-did-old-fashioned-rucking-become-illegal.html
It’s spot on. There is absolutely no evidence whatsoever that rucking is or was dangerous. There was no player driven movement to get rid of it. Indeed – I have never in 20+ years heard a player complain about getting rucked. Yet it is illegal, and it is one of the reasons rugby has become boring.
Today, (as opposed to when we played real rugby with rucking) ruck ball is often slow, because scrum halves have to dig for the ball because players cannot move bodies with their feet to make it fast. Teams like Wales for example can go touchline to touchline for 25 consecutive rucks whilst gaining 10 metres because the defence dare not contest or more importantly CANNOT contest the ball for fear of giving away a penalty. Not only is that wrong, it’s plain boring. If you cannot use your hands or your feet in a ruck, what the hell are you meant to use ? So you drag him down and fan out. Drag him down and fan out. Drag him down and fan out. Boring to read too eh ?
NEXT – the ‘gate’ is way too narrow and too open to split-second interpretation and therefore leads to too many penalties. Whenever a player can’t roll away he should be cleared away with boots to a) make the ball faster b) remind him that he shouldn’t be there in the first place and most importantly c) to prevent a penalty infested game. This would encourage more bodies and contests at the tackle point and prevent rugby looking like the 15 man defence drill which it is at the moment. Which is boring.
NEXT – There is too much aimless kicking. Because of the points above and also the law which states you can’t clear your lines from the 22 into touch, kicking the ball away, and missing touch is now acceptable. It used to be a criminal offence. A good player used to relieve pressure by making a good touch. Now an average player with no brain (see most international wingers these days) can boot the ball up the field and pass the buck onto the chasers. This has become the norm. It’s boring. If I wan’t to watch tennis, i’ll go to Wimbledon. Or not.
NEXT. Some key skills have been taken out of the game. If I chase a kick and the winger catches it, runs into me and I turn him in the tackle because his body position was bad, why the FUCK should I roll away? I’ll take my shoeing thanks very much so my team gets a turnover and I’ll look at the tramlines on my back the next morning with glee as evidence that I was on the wrong side of the ball. It’s my reward. I earned it. And by the way – Â to all the Dalton McGuinty, Globe and Mail reading bleeding heart Liberals out there …. no it doesn’t hurt.
Which brings me to Brian Moore’s question. At what point and based upon what evidence was rucking made illegal? From memory I remember getting an email from Dave Swift (rest in peace Dave) announcing Rugby Canada’s intention to implement the latest hand me down from the IRB. I reacted with a typically inflammatory email (shocker!) denouncing this as bad for the game, political correctness gone mad etc etc and I received a typically self righteous response from a top Ontario referee at the time talking about health and safety blah blah blah and that people wouldn’t want to take up the game if they saw rucking etc etc. Which is of course, absolute nonsense.
Which brings me to the reasons. Law changes seem to be driven by the beige cardigan wearing retired referee types at the IRB in Dublin, most of whom never played at the top level and probably fold like a cheap suit when put under any pressure. Rugby is like hockey in this respect. A bunch of old farts sit around all summer and talk about how many laws they should change or tinker with, the assumption being that they are improving the game. More often than not it hasn’t, hence the recent backtracking on the engagement sequence, pulling down the mauls etc etc  (my next rant will address this!).
What will improve the game will be bringing back rucking, encouraging contests at the breakdown involving more bodies (whether on the ground or not), and thus creating more space out wide.
The lesson to be learned here is that law changes and policy should be driven by the players. Not the referees. Not political correctness. Not fear. Not “health and safety”. I don’t want to hear the referee’s whistle at every breakdown. It’s the players game after all. It’s my game.
Or it used to be.
jonnysrugbyrant 