Ban kicking in open play?

[Don't Skip Leg Day]

Let me start by saying I love a good grubber or a well placed kick but nearly every rugby match these days has lots of pointless aimless kicking.

As rugby is a sport for fans to watch, should they ban certain kicks or kicking at all in open play? It would certainly make more running rugby but not sure if it would be pointless 1 put runners going in to brick walls that's just as boring.

Discuss

 

[Rinkadink]

No and no.

(Problem is the 50-20 and goal line drop out, they need to go)

 

[Scotty]

No thanks

 

[Reiser99]

I also disagree. Personally I'm not sure about the 50:20 rule. It's an extra rule to an already complex sport and at the moment in the premiership it is not having the desired effect of creating more space for attackers to run into. Maybe it will as teams learn to exploit it more.

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

Don't like the goal line drop out at all. Haven't seen enough of the 50:20 to have an opinion.

I also like a good kicking war so definitely disagree, probably in the minority there though.

 

[Umaga's Witness]

.

As football is a sport for fans to watch, should they ban certain kicks or kicking at all in open play?

Discuss

I fixed an error in your post for you

 

[NZbloke]

Let me start by saying I love a good grubber or a well placed kick but nearly every rugby match these days has lots of pointless aimless kicking.

As rugby is a sport for fans to watch, should they ban certain kicks or kicking at all in open play? It would certainly make more running rugby but not sure if it would be pointless 1 put runners going in to brick walls that's just as boring.

Discuss

Yeah, there's a ton of moronic aimless kicking in general play, which just gifts the opposition the ball - these blokes are meant to be professionals, so need to show a lot more smarts, run when it's on to do so, if you get suffocated by the opposition it's bloody pointless to just keep running into a brick wall, that's the time to kick intelligently behind them into space, or into the corners etc... so many of these dickheads just kick deep down the middle directly to the other side giving them too much time & space to counter attack from either side of the field, brainless !

 

[Umaga's Witness]

I fixed an error in your post for you

I was trying to make a point with this post, but was hoping someone would respond. Wanted people to sit with the thought and see where it led them.

I think in the rugby world we have a bit of an obsession with entertainment. But I think that's because we are lucky enough that there are innately entertaining aspects of the game. If you took someone who had never played or watched rugby and you showed them a pro rugby game and told them the basic rules, there would be bits they'd find exciting. If you did the same with football, they would get virtually nothing out of it. But football is the most popular spectator sport in the world. So why is that? I'd suggest a few reasons.

people understand the game and can therefore enjoy the intricacies that the new spectator doesn't see. Tactics and whatever. They enjoy watching skill, although this usually depends on the extent they understand how skillful something is, which usually means they would have had to have kicked a ball before at least. But, most of all, it's the atmosphere, the conraderie with your fellow supporters, and the tension around the result. Pro footballs major advantage over rugby is that a fairly crappy team will more often beat a good team, because goals are dictated by a poisson distribution with a low goal rate. That means the fans always have hope.

kicking in rugby can be interesting to the fan who understands it, and it can actually lead to closer games.

plus, for me the great thing about rugby is that different teams can win with very different approaches. And I still think that's the case.

 

[NZbloke]

True, compared to a rugby team a soccer/football side can compete much longer in a match when one team is stronger than the other - soccer/football you only have one option of scoring through goals, also the weaker can be very defensive minded making it pretty difficult for the opposition to score.
Rugby there's so many ways to score points, through tries, conversions, penalties, droppies - yeah, there are also a lot of different ways to attack in the game too.
Soccer/football laws are very easy to follow though... whereas rugby has far too many bloody overcomplicated laws that are going to make the game a bit of a nightmare for a newbie to follow, makes it a bit of a nightmare for us rugby supporters to watch as well

 

[Kiwiwomble]

no, i think we should be banning less things, having less reasons for he ref to blow their whistle will make it more enjoyable to watch, we've already got so many rules that make a new fan ask "but why"

 

[The Seeker]

 

[NZbloke]

Yeah, was saying there are too many rules that really overcomplicate the game... have heard a lot of people say throw out all the rules, then create rules that are really going to benefit rugby, would have to agree.

 

[Derpus]

Kicking is fine.

The problem rugby has in engaging casual fans stems from the inaccessibility and inconsistency in application of rules around the ruck, breakdown and (in particular) the maul. Part of this is just the nature of having such a multi-faceted game. Part of it is god awful management by WR and, in my opinion, a dearth of good referees.

The other issue is extended TMO review in real time. It's just far too slow and far too nitpicky. Why do we decide to apply a magnifying lens to the moments leading up to a try when such scrutiny is rarely ever applied to any other part of the game? it should be consistent and quick. Frankly, I wouldn't be mad if they just ditched it entirely except for dangerous play.

 

[Kiwiwomble]

Kicking is fine.

The problem rugby has in engaging casual fans stems from the inaccessibility and inconsistency in application of rules around the ruck, breakdown and (in particular) the maul. Part of this is just the nature of having such a multi-faceted game. Part of it is god awful management by WR and, in my opinion, a dearth of good referees.

The other issue is extended TMO review in real time. It's just far too slow and far too nitpicky. Why do we decide to apply a magnifying lens to the moments leading up to a try when such scrutiny is rarely ever applied to any other part of the game? it should be consistent and quick. Frankly, I wouldn't be mad if they just ditched it entirely except for dangerous play.

agreed, and my personal feeling on why the rules are so easy to be inconsistent with is they are too complicated, too many things banned or too many things based of subjective things, looking back at games for even the 90's, **** was loose around the ruck...and was just a lot more fun to watch, people cant complain about a rules being poorly administered if its not a rule

 

[Derpus]

agreed, and my personal feeling on why the rules are so easy to be inconsistent with is they are too complicated, too many things banned or too many things based of subjective things, looking back at games for even the 90's, **** was loose around the ruck...and was just a lot more fun to watch, people cant complain about a rules being poorly administered if its not a rule

True. Maybe we should cut down on the rules. Simplify the game.

We could even cut a few players out to open up space on the field and limit the number of phases a side could have to create a more even, faster paced game.

 

[Kiwiwomble]

True. Maybe we should cut down on the rules. Simplify the game.

We could even cut a few players out to open up space on the field and limit the number of phases a side could have to create a more even, faster paced game.

im a long way from league, i still enjoy scrums, rucks and lineouts, i just think the rules seem to be making these areas of the game more of a problem

 

[Derpus]

im a long way from league, i still enjoy scrums, rucks and lineouts, i just think the rules seem to be making these areas of the game more of a problem

Yeah I was just joking. FWIW I like both and I think they should stay distinct.

The Rugby 12s proposal did make me laugh though.

 

[NZbloke]

Kicking is fine.

The problem rugby has in engaging casual fans stems from the inaccessibility and inconsistency in application of rules around the ruck, breakdown and (in particular) the maul. Part of this is just the nature of having such a multi-faceted game. Part of it is god awful management by WR and, in my opinion, a dearth of good referees.

The other issue is extended TMO review in real time. It's just far too slow and far too nitpicky. Why do we decide to apply a magnifying lens to the moments leading up to a try when such scrutiny is rarely ever applied to any other part of the game? it should be consistent and quick. Frankly, I wouldn't be mad if they just ditched it entirely except for dangerous play.

Since rucking was taken out the breakdown area has become a bloody nightmare - they keep trying to fix the problem by consistently adding new laws, all they're doing though is making it even more of a shambles... also we get a lot of inconsistent refereeing because too many of the laws are open to a heap of interpretation.

Yeah, it's very frustrating when they go back 3 or 4 phases to look at video replays to see if they can ping someone, gets ludicrous.

Also reckon refs play advantage for way too long, some occasions it lasts for over two minutes... just play it for say 30 seconds, then the ref could say advantage over.

 

[paddybrown]

Christ no. I love a good kick-and-chase, and you can't beat a crossfield kick. Ban kicking, and you turn your out-half into another centre. Where's the fun in that?

I understand the frustration with the high, contestable kicks that dominated the Lions tour, but there are so many other ways you can kick in open play. Losing them would make for a much more boring game. Even kick-tennis can be tactically interesting. I understand the intent of the 50-22 rule is to create more space for attacking by forcing teams to defend deeper, and if that works I think it's a great idea.

Kicking penalties to touch to set up a lineout can get a bit predictable - if you could find a way of encouraging more tap-and-go penalties that might be more entertaining. Maybe ban kicking penalties to touch from within the 22?

 

[MikeTheNative]

If you ban kicking from open play then there would be less space for attackers as all the defenders would just be in the defensive line.