- Joined
- Sep 18, 2015
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We've just had a great feast of rugby, but I reckon there's scope to make it even better. Here are a few of my ideas:
* Substitutions are my pet bug bear as they ruin the flow of the game and give cheap caps. Have a bench of 8 as now, but limit the number to 4 (there are seldom that many game ending injuries) and keep the front row requirements. That way coaches have to be much more selective about their use of subs and a player's default mind set will be that they're going to play the whole game. Hey presto we revert back to a team rather than a squad game. Massive improvement in my book....and if I thought I could get away with subs for doc certified injuries only I would!
* Change to 45 minute halves. Why not, the wendyballers do it. The players are fit enough and it would give the fans much better value for money. What's not to like? Imagine, props having to train for 90 minutes rather than 50 as now; would help to reduce the size of players and slightly depower the collisions. Allied to fewer subs, much more space would open up for the runners. Has to be good.
* Others have suggested giving captains the chance to have a couple of TMO appeals. No brainer for me.
* Bar a few defined offences like serious foul play, refs should be able to penalise transgressions with either a penalty or a free kick as they see fit. Would be subjective, but enable more empathetic reffing. Could start from a default option of a free kick with pens reserved for the serious, cynical or persistent. For instance the pen in the last minute of AUS v SCO was given for playing a knock on. That was a reflex action so why a pen? A free kick would have been more proportionate; if the ball had ballooned up giving a couple of seconds thinking time that could have been deemed deliberate and worthy of a pen. Free kicks also force players to be more creative and use the ball rather than the formulaic kick to touch and regaining possession from the line out that we see from most pens.
* Bring back a degree of footwork in the ruck to free the ball or remove an offside player.
And now the scrum, the jewel in our game's crown.
* We can start by making the ref enforce the feeding rule properly. On a similar vein, I'd introduce another rule that the scrum WILL be reset if the the ref deems that the hooker of the side putting in does not make a genuine effort to strike for the ball. Would bring back a dying skill and most likely reduce the size of the hookers.
* Deliberate dropping of the scrum is bl**dy dangerous and should be an automatic card in the way that tip tackles are. Scrums do sometimes go down accidentally, but where the ref deems it intentional, out comes the card. Given the invariable points swing during a sin bin, coaches would soon put a stop to it.
* Allowing wheeling up to 90 degrees should be reintroduced. It's a unit skill that both defence and attack can use to their advantage.
Hopefully my free kick / pen suggestion would stop dominant teams in the scrum simply using it as a weapon to get penalties. Where's the incentive to win a free kick when you already have the ball and the oppo are going backwards at a rate of knots?
I'm sure others will have many more suggestions, Let's hear them.
* Substitutions are my pet bug bear as they ruin the flow of the game and give cheap caps. Have a bench of 8 as now, but limit the number to 4 (there are seldom that many game ending injuries) and keep the front row requirements. That way coaches have to be much more selective about their use of subs and a player's default mind set will be that they're going to play the whole game. Hey presto we revert back to a team rather than a squad game. Massive improvement in my book....and if I thought I could get away with subs for doc certified injuries only I would!
* Change to 45 minute halves. Why not, the wendyballers do it. The players are fit enough and it would give the fans much better value for money. What's not to like? Imagine, props having to train for 90 minutes rather than 50 as now; would help to reduce the size of players and slightly depower the collisions. Allied to fewer subs, much more space would open up for the runners. Has to be good.
* Others have suggested giving captains the chance to have a couple of TMO appeals. No brainer for me.
* Bar a few defined offences like serious foul play, refs should be able to penalise transgressions with either a penalty or a free kick as they see fit. Would be subjective, but enable more empathetic reffing. Could start from a default option of a free kick with pens reserved for the serious, cynical or persistent. For instance the pen in the last minute of AUS v SCO was given for playing a knock on. That was a reflex action so why a pen? A free kick would have been more proportionate; if the ball had ballooned up giving a couple of seconds thinking time that could have been deemed deliberate and worthy of a pen. Free kicks also force players to be more creative and use the ball rather than the formulaic kick to touch and regaining possession from the line out that we see from most pens.
* Bring back a degree of footwork in the ruck to free the ball or remove an offside player.
And now the scrum, the jewel in our game's crown.
* We can start by making the ref enforce the feeding rule properly. On a similar vein, I'd introduce another rule that the scrum WILL be reset if the the ref deems that the hooker of the side putting in does not make a genuine effort to strike for the ball. Would bring back a dying skill and most likely reduce the size of the hookers.
* Deliberate dropping of the scrum is bl**dy dangerous and should be an automatic card in the way that tip tackles are. Scrums do sometimes go down accidentally, but where the ref deems it intentional, out comes the card. Given the invariable points swing during a sin bin, coaches would soon put a stop to it.
* Allowing wheeling up to 90 degrees should be reintroduced. It's a unit skill that both defence and attack can use to their advantage.
Hopefully my free kick / pen suggestion would stop dominant teams in the scrum simply using it as a weapon to get penalties. Where's the incentive to win a free kick when you already have the ball and the oppo are going backwards at a rate of knots?
I'm sure others will have many more suggestions, Let's hear them.