Rugby’s governing body - World Rugby - again set the cat among the pigeons this week by announcing that they will be going global with a number of law trials - including the controversial 20-minute red card.
While World Rugby has repeatedly called these “fan-focused” law changes, rugby continues to be the only sport that consistently tinkers with laws, expecting professional players to adapt at will, and fans to understand every single chance when there are now more than one a year.
And as “fan-focused” laws, World Rugby has never really explained who exactly these fans are that they seem to be targeting? And how much input players have had to the law adjustments?
Instead there seems to be a constant knee-jerk reaction to the latest trend, to copying laws from Rugby League and to edging closer and closer to a game where the original “Game for all sizes” - rugby’s purest form that enticed so many of us to love the game - is dying a slow death.
OBSESSION WITH SPEEDING UP THE GAME
The obsession with “speeding up the game” is taking monster proportions at World Rugby, as if more minutes in play means more entertainment. Considering the vast variety of conditions rugby is played in across the world, more minutes means little in terms of context, and makes us all wonder if we really are heading towards a hybrid of League?
After all, we keep on hearing how the maul needs to be depowered, the scrum needs to be depowered? The only thing the “experts” at World Rugby seem to agree on, is that they want greyhounds running around masquerading as rugby players.
NFL is immensely popular in America, and takes more than four hours to complete, and is expanding into new territories with an annual game in London, but the “game time” is less than rugby’s half. It doesn’t matter to them, they love their game and look at maximising the marketing rather than changing the laws every few months.
Rugby has never been healthier, and more at risk at the same time. While the game provides moments that take our breath away, it also infuriates at every opportunity.
NOVEL MARKETING WAYS
While other sports have found new novel ways to market the game to the youth, rugby is stuck in the 80s, as desperate social media managers fluff around and try and market the game under onerous laws, and teams shield players from the public as if they are a rare virus.
But back to the red card law. More than one study has shown that lopsided contests do not actually influence the result. While a team is at a disadvantage, blowouts are increasingly rare.
Plus the argument that you are actually incentivising foul play - by allowing a team to replace a player after 20 minutes is more than valid.
It has been widely criticised across the board by coaches, referees and everyone else. But guess what? The “Fan-based” laws say it will change so we will change.
As former test referee Nigel Owens eloquently put it a couple of months ago, the 20-minute red card will not solve rugby’s problems with foul play.
“As far as the 20-minute red card idea is concerned, I’m not a fan. As (former test referee) Mathieu (Raynal) has said, I don’t believe it will really solve any of the problems that we have in the game at the moment,” Owens wrote in his WalesOnline column.
“If someone on the pitch has committed a red card offence, they should be given a red card that sees them sin-binned for the rest of the game. Simple as that.”
COMMON SENSE IS NEEDED
What rugby could do, and this is a bit of common sense here, is actually simplify what is a red card and what not. While nobody wants lasting damage to players because of head collisions, too often the grey areas rule the game. Accidental head clashes result in red cards and long bans, where common sense would be much more sensible.
The Six Nations turned down a trial earlier this year, and France, England and Ireland are reportedly against it.
Progressive Rugby, the body that is part of the process in making head contact less a part of the game, slammed Sanzaar when they decided to trial it in the Rugby Championship this year.
“Staggeringly bad look from SANZAAR in light of recent litigation; Firmly prioritises spectacle over player welfare; Two fingers up at World Rugby; Removes incentive to address behaviours and tackle technique. Deeply disappointing.”
But will World Rugby care? History has shown that they couldn’t care less and will steamroller the laws through despite the dissatisfaction, claiming the fans want them.
Rugby will continue to tinker, continue to change laws, and continue to claim the fans want this.
And it will look less and less like the game we love.
And World Rugby will slap each other on the backs and tell you how good it is.