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The Kicking problem
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<blockquote data-quote="smartcooky" data-source="post: 280868"><p>It has been very interesting watching some of the Guinness Premiership games recently, particularly the last Saracens match</p><p></p><p>Last weekend Sarries played Gloucester at home, and during the match there were several sessions of aimless ping pong and the Vicarage Road crowd started booing and jeering their OWN team. This led to the following statement from Edward Griffiths, the Saracens chief executive....</p><p></p><p>Griffiths said he was astonished by the reaction during a tedious period of aimless kicking that drew jeers and slow hand-clapping.</p><p></p><p><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div></p><p></p><p>Here are my thoughts, from a referee's perspective......</p><p></p><p>Aimless kicking is the reward we have reaped because, despite all the chances we, as a game, have had to fix the things that ail it, namely, the breakdown, we have failed, and failed dismally.</p><p></p><p>The breakdown is such a contentious, controversial and difficult area to manage with so many different interpretations from referees, that players no longer feel they can do anything at that phase of the game, and be sure they aren't going to be pinged this week for something that last week's referee was happy with.</p><p></p><p>You need only look at the varying points of view on rugby forums all over the net to understand that there are vastly different interpretations of what is OK and not OK at the breakdown. The result is that coaches are telling their players not to take the risk of being penalised. Instead, they kick downfield and put the ball in the opposition's hands and let them make the mistakes and concede the penalties. Get two teams playing each other with this game plan, and the 15-a-side tennis commences.</p><p></p><p>This is the tactic that the Springboks used this year to win the Tri-Nations. They played as little rugby as they possibly could, by kicking and chasing at every opportunity reasonable opportunity, making sure that they were hardly ever caught in possession in their own half of the field. In other words, they minimised the risk... if you minimise the number of breakdowns that happen in your own half, you will minimise the number of kickable penalties you give away. Its a winning formula. However much we might hate what we see as a result, i.e. the seemingly never-ending games of force-back, you can't blame the Boks for doing what they're best at; creating nothing and and pouncing on opposition mistakes to get points. Its how they won the 2007 RWC final (96 kicks in play, remember) and the season after that, they tried to run the ball and got royally Rogered, so they have gone back to what they know best. </p><p></p><p>I don't blame them for doing this, and why would GP coaches not see the Boks' tactics and try to emulate them?</p><p></p><p>The booing and jeering of teams by their own supporters is <em>Phase One</em> of dissent and dissatisfaction. Until the iRB does something to simplify the Laws governing the breakdown, which are currently too complicated and too open to individual referees interpretation, the current farcical aimless kicking contests will continue. Then we'll move on to <em>Phase Two</em>, supporters will begin to stop showing up. Aimless kicking will continue to drive supporters away, probably right into the ranks of the Dark Side, where they play a similar game but without the seemingly endless periods of "Force Back". While it might be winning rugby, its not winning the MOST important aspect of the game.... the supporters;</p><p></p><p></p><p><strong>No supporters > No bums on seats > No pay-TV subscriptions > No sponsors > No money > NO GAME.</strong></p><p></p><p>Its a direct line of cause and effect. Rugby NEEDS to change some of the Laws of the game that are enabling coaches to take overly defensive stances.</p><p></p><p>In Europe they have, for the last few years been proclaiming that the game is in "rude health" and "it isn't broken and doesn't need fixing". That is a "head-in-the-sand" mentality. In seeing what has happened with the behaviour of Sarries supporters at Vickerage Road, what we are seeing is the beginnings of dissatisfaction with the way rugby is being played. In the SH, we cottoned on the this some time ago, it seems that it has taken just a little longer to sink in in the NH, but sink in it will. </p><p></p><p>Having watched what happened in the Tasman v Auckland match last weekend, and comparing that with Saracens v Gloucester, I realised that we have managed to get past the phase that the GP and ML are about to go into. In Sarries v Gloucester, there were 67 midfield/downfield kicks, but in Tasman v Auckland, there were 18, mostly by Auckland, and ALL BUT FIVE OF THEM WERE RUN BACK. Not a single downfield kick was returned with another downfield kick; the remaining five were kicked (bounced) into touch.</p><p></p><p>Just on a closing note, to anyone who says that the ELV's are responsible for the aimless kicking, I say <strong>********!!!</strong>. It all began with the 2007 Rugby World Cup Final (96 kicks in play) and the subsequent realisation by elite rugby's leading coaches, that they could win games of rugby by kicking the ball away. Until we have Laws that make it difficult, if not impossible to win games without possession, the current tripe we are seeing in both hemispheres (ANZC excepted, where the average number of kicks in play is less than 25 per match) will continue.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="smartcooky, post: 280868"] It has been very interesting watching some of the Guinness Premiership games recently, particularly the last Saracens match Last weekend Sarries played Gloucester at home, and during the match there were several sessions of aimless ping pong and the Vicarage Road crowd started booing and jeering their OWN team. This led to the following statement from Edward Griffiths, the Saracens chief executive.... Griffiths said he was astonished by the reaction during a tedious period of aimless kicking that drew jeers and slow hand-clapping. <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div> Here are my thoughts, from a referee's perspective...... Aimless kicking is the reward we have reaped because, despite all the chances we, as a game, have had to fix the things that ail it, namely, the breakdown, we have failed, and failed dismally. The breakdown is such a contentious, controversial and difficult area to manage with so many different interpretations from referees, that players no longer feel they can do anything at that phase of the game, and be sure they aren't going to be pinged this week for something that last week's referee was happy with. You need only look at the varying points of view on rugby forums all over the net to understand that there are vastly different interpretations of what is OK and not OK at the breakdown. The result is that coaches are telling their players not to take the risk of being penalised. Instead, they kick downfield and put the ball in the opposition's hands and let them make the mistakes and concede the penalties. Get two teams playing each other with this game plan, and the 15-a-side tennis commences. This is the tactic that the Springboks used this year to win the Tri-Nations. They played as little rugby as they possibly could, by kicking and chasing at every opportunity reasonable opportunity, making sure that they were hardly ever caught in possession in their own half of the field. In other words, they minimised the risk... if you minimise the number of breakdowns that happen in your own half, you will minimise the number of kickable penalties you give away. Its a winning formula. However much we might hate what we see as a result, i.e. the seemingly never-ending games of force-back, you can't blame the Boks for doing what they're best at; creating nothing and and pouncing on opposition mistakes to get points. Its how they won the 2007 RWC final (96 kicks in play, remember) and the season after that, they tried to run the ball and got royally Rogered, so they have gone back to what they know best. I don't blame them for doing this, and why would GP coaches not see the Boks' tactics and try to emulate them? The booing and jeering of teams by their own supporters is [i]Phase One[/i] of dissent and dissatisfaction. Until the iRB does something to simplify the Laws governing the breakdown, which are currently too complicated and too open to individual referees interpretation, the current farcical aimless kicking contests will continue. Then we'll move on to [i]Phase Two[/i], supporters will begin to stop showing up. Aimless kicking will continue to drive supporters away, probably right into the ranks of the Dark Side, where they play a similar game but without the seemingly endless periods of "Force Back". While it might be winning rugby, its not winning the MOST important aspect of the game.... the supporters; [b]No supporters > No bums on seats > No pay-TV subscriptions > No sponsors > No money > NO GAME.[/b] Its a direct line of cause and effect. Rugby NEEDS to change some of the Laws of the game that are enabling coaches to take overly defensive stances. In Europe they have, for the last few years been proclaiming that the game is in "rude health" and "it isn't broken and doesn't need fixing". That is a "head-in-the-sand" mentality. In seeing what has happened with the behaviour of Sarries supporters at Vickerage Road, what we are seeing is the beginnings of dissatisfaction with the way rugby is being played. In the SH, we cottoned on the this some time ago, it seems that it has taken just a little longer to sink in in the NH, but sink in it will. Having watched what happened in the Tasman v Auckland match last weekend, and comparing that with Saracens v Gloucester, I realised that we have managed to get past the phase that the GP and ML are about to go into. In Sarries v Gloucester, there were 67 midfield/downfield kicks, but in Tasman v Auckland, there were 18, mostly by Auckland, and ALL BUT FIVE OF THEM WERE RUN BACK. Not a single downfield kick was returned with another downfield kick; the remaining five were kicked (bounced) into touch. Just on a closing note, to anyone who says that the ELV's are responsible for the aimless kicking, I say [b]********!!![/b]. It all began with the 2007 Rugby World Cup Final (96 kicks in play) and the subsequent realisation by elite rugby's leading coaches, that they could win games of rugby by kicking the ball away. Until we have Laws that make it difficult, if not impossible to win games without possession, the current tripe we are seeing in both hemispheres (ANZC excepted, where the average number of kicks in play is less than 25 per match) will continue. [/QUOTE]
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