Carpelone says...

@ StunTheMullet

Free Kicks and penalties, both, must be used, depending upon infringements. The target should be 0 resets.

Posted 14:49 23rd May 2012

markpat says...

@RugbyLeRoux - while I previously thought rolling subs would be good, the recent mass use of the bench has put me off that idea completely.

At the moment, 2nd halves seem to be a huge disappoinment compared to 1st halves (the quality of the rugby,I mean, not necessarily the excitement), due to all the changes in the lineups (especially in the backs, it seems).

Posted 10:30 23rd May 2012

sandal says...

@APV1

Harsh, Algonquin.

The British held their hands up and confessed to this one -- the media has been full of lamentations about halfbacks in the Premiership, the Heineken Cup and other northern competitions standing over the ball for long periods.

But Piri Weepu, as I noted, has been as bad as any, waving his arms around like Napoleon. I hate it.

Neither can you deny that a huge proportion of injuries -- injuries that did not necessitate a replacement taking the field -- in tests during the 60s, 70s and 80s occurred close to the players' own tryline. And it's not something that Kiwis ever accused Springboks or Wallabies of. It was your lot who earned that reputation.

Posted 08:43 23rd May 2012

StunTheMullet says...

@ Carpelone - "Scrums. Referees must use free kicks, at the first opportunity. The defending team must be responsible not to collapse the scrum. This would avoid time wasting techniques at scrum (OZ style) and allow more running rugby."

Free kicks in place of scrum penalties was one of the evil ELVs that was rejected.....

Posted 21:49 22nd May 2012

kybone says...

I like these changes. Im a bit surprised that nothings been done to the scrum though. Even as an England supporter i was getting more than a little p****d off with the amount of time Dickson was taking to get the ball away during the 6N.

As for best team in Europe it depends how you define it. In my opinion the best club in the HC has been Toulouse simply because they have still won it the most times and have managed to continually evolve the side over the years. The best team ( as in the players on the pitch) has got to be Leinster because its basially been the same players that have won all 3 of their HC titles. I wonder how many players have won the HC 3 times. There must be some more other than the one in this Leinster team. Has anyone won it more than 3 times?

Posted 16:56 22nd May 2012

APV1 says...

@ sandal - could you be any more anti-British? According to you, everything which has ever gone wrong on a rugby pitch (probably off it too!), is always the fault of those damned Brits!

;-)

Posted 12:31 22nd May 2012

tha_mai says...

Stellenbosched2, sandal - re actual playing time per game, often a 'tough 80 minutes' involves about half that of actual rugby.

IRB stats show an average of 35 minutes ball in play for all matches at the 2011 Rugby World Cup. About same (within one minute) as RWC 2007 and 2003.

2009's Tri Nations matches and the British and Irish Lions v South Africa - 34 minutes.

RWC 1991 ball was in play, on average, just 31% (25min) of the game, now it's up around 44% so they are running more per match (on average).

SANZAR's 2012 3rd outcome priority (thay have five!) is: Ball in Play: aim - 35-40 minutes per game

Posted 10:55 22nd May 2012

sandal says...

@Stellenbosched2

You say: ""Is the time wasting in modern rugby just a result of too much rugby being played? In order to drag their bodies through 30-odd matches a year the players no doubt have adapted by slowing the game down.""

Lol. You could be right.

I recall that from the 60s to the 80s, teams in the British Isles had a ploy for getting a rest after prolonged defence. One player (it was only ever one) lay down on the ground "injured" and play was stopped. Now that refs tend to let play continue around injured players (sometimes shamefully, it has to be said), this "hollywood" no longer serves any purpose. So it was inevitable that the burden would fall on halfbacks to assist those feeling the pace.

Naturally, it was British halfbacks who started prolonged direction-giving as the ball lay at the back of the breakdown. And, equally naturally, in New Zealand it was "who ate all the pasta carbonara?" Piri Weepu who has been the greatest exponent.

Posted 08:27 22nd May 2012

Jivinjeff says...

They'll never make changes which significantly affect the length of the match (eg stopping clock for kicks) because that would mess up TV commitments. They have a set window of time into which they must fit as much rugby as possible.

And before anyone rants about TV greed vetoing a good game, the program they may want to show after said game could be another rugby game you're more interested in seeing. I'd rather have "look at me, preening for the camera" flyhalves a little more rushed than watch the next match from the 5 minute mark onwards, or not at all. It may reduce the marketability of flyhalves, but better that than the marketability of the game.

Posted 04:40 22nd May 2012

DropZone62 says...

Love the idea about rucks and use it or lose it, this will make for more exciting rugby! Could we get any update on how Jonah Lomu is? I'm worried for him, and also how Otaga's liquidation is happening are they still in trouble? oh yeah and no article on Viadana in the Pro12 yet? or is that just speculation?

Posted 20:17 21st May 2012