State of the game

[Don't Skip Leg Day]

I don't know amid anyone listened to two really good chats on the Good the bad the rugby but there were two great episodes on the current state of the game and how it needs to live forward.

The basis of the discussion was around the current game/ format etc and how to make it a growing game in the leagues around the world and aligning things globally.

A really interesting discussion and one I wanted to continue here.

Every year I feel like our game becomes less accessible, more complex and the division grows between the international game and the domestic one globally.

Interested to get peoples thoughts and encourage the listen (even if you dislike Hask and Tinds).

 

[Vieux Talonneur]

Great question. Haven't listened, but private money is now the driver and in rugby that means sweating the international game.

This quote from the Grauniad the other day spoke volumes:

"Soon the Springboks will close a deal with CVC, which owns a chunk of the Six Nations. It is next to inconceivable that South Africa do not join in the next few years".

 

[Ragey Erasmus]

Rugby has minimal exposure to most of the public outside the world cup and 6 nations. The chasing of higher value broadcasting rights has reduced the quantity available for people to watch. If most rugby fans aren't willing to pay to watch it, you can be sure non-rugby fans definitely won't. It's become highly inaccessible and, as usual, short term profit has been put ahead of growing the game long term. Salaries have also been rising without the revenue stream to support it.

Rugby also has an elitist vibe to it that puts off a lot of people, especially football fans. All non-rugby watching football fans see if rugby fans constantly slagging off football and being involved in a massive circle-jerk about how "this isn't soccer". If I was a football fan, I'd have zero interest in looking at rugby considering the attitude it constantly projects. I say this as a rugby fan who massively dislikes the poor attitudes in football. The sport is not going to attract many new people as long as it continues with this smug, elitist feel.

It also feels stuck in the past. The way a good rugby video game is sniffed at is a perfect example. Look at all sports that have a major following internationally, every single one has a good video game to go with it. That's part of how you get people interested. Football, ice hockey, cricket, basketball, American football, F1, golf etc Rugby has consistently failed here and is showing little sign of taking this seriously, again largely because the old farts at the top are stuck in the past.

Rugby also is constantly introducing new rules and "gimmicks" whilst failing to properly enforce the existing ones. This is pointless, until they properly crack down on the quality and consistency of refereeing internationally, adding new rules to a set that already aren't properly enforced is just making the game more and more convoluted and puts people off. It's quite hard to get into a sport when you have to watch a lot of games before you can even understand it.

TL;RD - Too elitist, stuck in the past, fiddling about with the rules too much and not getting a proper hold on consistent refereeing.

 

[Don't Skip Leg Day]

The constant changing / adding rules is a massive dislike for most people and the massive difference in how the game is reffed.

The game is too complex as it is and also too 'stuck' only thinking about little parts and not the global game.

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

Rules and Entertainment

I'm very positive about the product on the park and think rule changes that have been implemented are all about protecting players and reducing the ability of a good defence to snuff out attacking flair. I can watch division 3 Japanese rugby and be entertained by the ball handling plus investment in hybrid pitches has been a huge boon over the past decade. Playing on grass in soggy Glasgow wouldn't make for much entertainment. Yes, we can grumble about refs and squint feeds etc, but it doesn't detract from the sport for me too much. The NFL is as confusing as hell with rules and it is lapper up.

Leagues

I think the main leagues and participants are all good, including the Tier2 pro leagues (albeit these are not yet financially sustainable). Salary caps are great. The English league shows the way in TV deals mixing TV money and some accessibility via some free coverse. The Challenge Cup needs to find relevance (I'd suggest by mixing with Tier2).

Internationals & Politics

So far so positive. So why does a guy who loves his sport and thinks rugby rules are contributing to greater entertainment have lower interest than at any point in decades? We have professional players playing outside the 6N and RC who are offered meaningful fixtures in an intense atmosphere once every 4 years (if they are lucky). We have Tier2 access to the Challenge Cup withdrawn, Jaguares kicked out of Super Rugby, no real effort to retain the Sunwolves.

Clubs, Tier1 unions and World Rugby all appear to consider incorporating professional sides from Tier2 into a pathway leading to the top table as someone else's problem and realistically will only ever consider it if there is short term financial gain (Super Rugby Pacifika excepted). When you mix warm words with treating others with barely concealed contempt you leave a bad taste.

Political gains like the San Francisco agreement to increase Tier1 vs Tier2 fixtures are welcome, but fall far short, being a bunch of friendlies. Bizarre favouritism of the PIs and NA in terms of Tier1 tests continues. November and June tests remain friendlies including tedious three test affairs of no import except to die hard fans.

The attempted coup of World Rugby by SANZAAR failed, leaving those allies split. Argentina barely have a pro team and NZ and Aus in particular are going to lose out to NH leagues in terms of player wages, with knock-on impact onto international performance. SA is fairing better, but what if the TV money runs out? Will the welcome mat be withdrawn by the NH?

We are seeing mad things like World 12s, or Georgia sending sides to the Currie Cup all because certain unions have literally zero interest in the long term international health and growth of the sport if it means investment over the short to medium term, or any kind of short term sacrifice of any kind whatsoever.

Player development and eligibility

Eligibility rules are exploited by some to such an extent that youth development is a fool's errand. Scotland now has less than 10,000 active adult male players, because it is far harder to spend 10 years developing a kid to a professional adult than it is to check the family tree of a player developed by another union. Yet the Scottish union is considered a well run union that has improved international and club performances. The move to 5 year residency may make things less farcical for the neutral by 2027 though.

Suggestions

Trying to be politically realistic I would like to see a move to something similar to international cricket's world test championship. In short, make the international windows count but also (unlike cricket) provide relegation and promotion.

Whether you play a one off test or a test series the results goes to your international score. At the end of the 2 or 4 year cycle the top 2 or 4 sides face off in a playoff. With such a format over 3 divisions of 10 teams (with promotion and relegation playoffs) the June and November test windows become meaningful and permit theoretical access top flight rugby for the top 30 ranked nations in the world. All without impacting on the 6N or RC.

Combine this with restoring a link between the EPCR tournaments and the Rugby Europe Super Cup or Tier2 professional European leagues and many of my grumbles disappear. But really, we are in a situation where the Japanese league is buying World Players of the Year and still none of the suits in global rugby invite them into a meaningful international structure. I'd call it incompetence and short termism at best. If moneybags, World Cup hosting quarter finalists are excluded, what hope for any other of the 100+ Tier 2 or 3 nations.

As Tier 1 fans this may not be considered all that relevant. But the integrity of a sport relies on people being able to access it regardless of nation, wealth or social standing. Rugby is abysmal on all three of those counts in my opinion and with the growing weakness of the SH the global game could be on the cusp of a significant downturn. If Aus, NZ, SA or Arg should have a wobble, who has been nurtured and cultivated to take their place? Nobody.

 

[Kiwiwomble]

100% agree the rules are too complicated and keep being fiddled with, they keep adding too the rule book rather than changing any rules that might not be working

I've said it several times, i would love to stick a group of refs and old players in a room write on a whiteboard

1) 15 players each
2) these are the dimensions of the field
3) can't pass the ball forward
4) we want scrums and lineouts of some sort

....whats next?

would we end up with rules anything like we have currently? i dont think so


The other issue i have, i think there is too much focus on the international game, at least in the southern hemisphere, your local club/NPC even super team is infinitely better placed to connect to a community and grow support in rugby in general...and yet we basically spend the time saying nothing matters except internationals...and then other than the RWC they're all friendlies effectively, loos to aussie or SA? og well, we play them twice again this year so doesn't matter

Even the RC...its played every year so we see people go, i i'll miss this game but i'll catch the second one or we'll play them again next year...scarcity builds importance...not saturation

We also seem to ignore things that other sports like football have already proven...rather than lots of meaningless games against "top opposition" people are just if not more likely to go and watch meaningful games against lesser teams...because its different

ditch the RC EVERY year, make it 4 yearly like the euros in football and make every team have to qualify for the RWC, make kiwis and aussie want to go to fiji for once every four years for the RWC qualifying, sure it will be an all but forgone conclusion but the game will have meaning and fans will want to go on a booze trip