The Current State of Rugby
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@Steve said in The Current State of Rugby:
This is the Rugby I used to enjoy. Jeopardy on both sides. Either team could have scored in this passage. Forwards were strong, backs were fast. When the ball went wide it was on.
Notice how not one player or commentator complained when Marty Holah arrowed Dawson into the turf like a sack of garbage.
Good times.
Holah would be red carded today no question.
I think the most amazing thing of all is Mike Tindalls flowing tresses on display.
@MN5 said in The Current State of Rugby:
@Steve said in The Current State of Rugby:
This is the Rugby I used to enjoy. Jeopardy on both sides. Either team could have scored in this passage. Forwards were strong, backs were fast. When the ball went wide it was on.
Notice how not one player or commentator complained when Marty Holah arrowed Dawson into the turf like a sack of garbage.
Good times.
Holah would be red carded today no question.
I think the most amazing thing of all is Mike Tindalls flowing tresses on display.
If Umaga dropped his intercept he would get 10 minutes in the bin too.
I always laugh when I hear the ref say " you were not in a realistic position to make the intercept" . If he can touch it. then he is in a realistic position to intercept it. Look how far it travelled from Umagas finger tips before he regathers. Let the game flow for fuck sake.
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Said it before but these athletes ar bigger, faster and stronger and consequently the field has become compressed. That's why there is less space and the game is a grind. Is probably why support play and chancing the off load is so popular because fractions of seconds could be an opportunity. Maybe 13 players is the option or a bigger field.
@broughie said in The Current State of Rugby:
Said it before but these athletes ar bigger, faster and stronger and consequently the field has become compressed. That's why there is less space and the game is a grind. Is probably why support play and chancing the off load is so popular because fractions of seconds could be an opportunity. Maybe 13 players is the option or a bigger field.
Everything these days seem to benefit bigger players. From 8 subs, to TMOs, to reset scrums, water breaks etc.
I think reducing the number of subs allowed on to 5 (8 on bench, only allowed to use 5) would swing the balance greatly towards fitness over size. The days of the bomb squad would be at an end.
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Said it before but these athletes ar bigger, faster and stronger and consequently the field has become compressed. That's why there is less space and the game is a grind. Is probably why support play and chancing the off load is so popular because fractions of seconds could be an opportunity. Maybe 13 players is the option or a bigger field.
@broughie said in The Current State of Rugby:
Said it before but these athletes ar bigger, faster and stronger and consequently the field has become compressed. That's why there is less space and the game is a grind. Is probably why support play and chancing the off load is so popular because fractions of seconds could be an opportunity. Maybe 13 players is the option or a bigger field.
Unlike
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@nzzp said in The Current State of Rugby:
The argument is that there should be a trade off. Pick big and strong, but run the risk that they run out of puff and become a liability.
Unless your surname is Nonu...
@Victor-Meldrew said in The Current State of Rugby:
@nzzp said in The Current State of Rugby:
The argument is that there should be a trade off. Pick big and strong, but run the risk that they run out of puff and become a liability.
Unless your surname is Nonu...
There’ll always be superior athletes
AND they get get the opportunity to shine
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This is the Rugby I used to enjoy. Jeopardy on both sides. Either team could have scored in this passage. Forwards were strong, backs were fast. When the ball went wide it was on.
Notice how not one player or commentator complained when Marty Holah arrowed Dawson into the turf like a sack of garbage.
Good times.
@Steve said in The Current State of Rugby:
This is the Rugby I used to enjoy. Jeopardy on both sides. Either team could have scored in this passage. Forwards were strong, backs were fast. When the ball went wide it was on.
Notice how not one player or commentator complained when Marty Holah arrowed Dawson into the turf like a sack of garbage.
Good times.
That was no different to the first 15 minutes of Scotland v Australia match yesterday
Except the Holah ‘tackle’
Straight to the showers
And deservedly so
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@MN5 said in The Current State of Rugby:
@Steve said in The Current State of Rugby:
This is the Rugby I used to enjoy. Jeopardy on both sides. Either team could have scored in this passage. Forwards were strong, backs were fast. When the ball went wide it was on.
Notice how not one player or commentator complained when Marty Holah arrowed Dawson into the turf like a sack of garbage.
Good times.
Holah would be red carded today no question.
I think the most amazing thing of all is Mike Tindalls flowing tresses on display.
Post O'Driscoll and Alastair Campbell we shat the bed with foul play. I was upended like that many times in my playing days and never once complained. I was fond of dishing out the odd dump/spear tackle myself too.
@Steve said in The Current State of Rugby:
@MN5 said in The Current State of Rugby:
@Steve said in The Current State of Rugby:
This is the Rugby I used to enjoy. Jeopardy on both sides. Either team could have scored in this passage. Forwards were strong, backs were fast. When the ball went wide it was on.
Notice how not one player or commentator complained when Marty Holah arrowed Dawson into the turf like a sack of garbage.
Good times.
Holah would be red carded today no question.
I think the most amazing thing of all is Mike Tindalls flowing tresses on display.
Post O'Driscoll and Alastair Campbell we shat the bed with foul play. I was upended like that many times in my playing days and never once complained. I was fond of dishing out the odd dump/spear tackle myself too.
Until the adults determined it was stupid
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@broughie said in The Current State of Rugby:
Said it before but these athletes ar bigger, faster and stronger and consequently the field has become compressed. That's why there is less space and the game is a grind. Is probably why support play and chancing the off load is so popular because fractions of seconds could be an opportunity. Maybe 13 players is the option or a bigger field.
Everything these days seem to benefit bigger players. From 8 subs, to TMOs, to reset scrums, water breaks etc.
I think reducing the number of subs allowed on to 5 (8 on bench, only allowed to use 5) would swing the balance greatly towards fitness over size. The days of the bomb squad would be at an end.
@profitius said in The Current State of Rugby:
@broughie said in The Current State of Rugby:
Said it before but these athletes ar bigger, faster and stronger and consequently the field has become compressed. That's why there is less space and the game is a grind. Is probably why support play and chancing the off load is so popular because fractions of seconds could be an opportunity. Maybe 13 players is the option or a bigger field.
Everything these days seem to benefit bigger players. From 8 subs, to TMOs, to reset scrums, water breaks etc.
I think reducing the number of subs allowed on to 5 (8 on bench, only allowed to use 5) would swing the balance greatly towards fitness over size. The days of the bomb squad would be at an end.
Agree with this. The issue is that it isn't happening because most NH unions think things are just fine. I don't think things are going to change as a result.
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@MN5 said in The Current State of Rugby:
@Steve said in The Current State of Rugby:
This is the Rugby I used to enjoy. Jeopardy on both sides. Either team could have scored in this passage. Forwards were strong, backs were fast. When the ball went wide it was on.
Notice how not one player or commentator complained when Marty Holah arrowed Dawson into the turf like a sack of garbage.
Good times.
Holah would be red carded today no question.
I think the most amazing thing of all is Mike Tindalls flowing tresses on display.
If Umaga dropped his intercept he would get 10 minutes in the bin too.
I always laugh when I hear the ref say " you were not in a realistic position to make the intercept" . If he can touch it. then he is in a realistic position to intercept it. Look how far it travelled from Umagas finger tips before he regathers. Let the game flow for fuck sake.
@Steve said in The Current State of Rugby:
If Umaga dropped his intercept he would get 10 minutes in the bin too.
I always laugh when I hear the ref say " you were not in a realistic position to make the intercept" . If he can touch it. then he is in a realistic position to intercept it. Look how far it travelled from Umagas finger tips before he regathers. Let the game flow for fuck sake.Agree 100%. Punish a deliberate knock-on absolutely, but there are way too many cards for what is in effect simply a failed intercept.
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@Steve said in The Current State of Rugby:
If Umaga dropped his intercept he would get 10 minutes in the bin too.
I always laugh when I hear the ref say " you were not in a realistic position to make the intercept" . If he can touch it. then he is in a realistic position to intercept it. Look how far it travelled from Umagas finger tips before he regathers. Let the game flow for fuck sake.Agree 100%. Punish a deliberate knock-on absolutely, but there are way too many cards for what is in effect simply a failed intercept.
@Victor-Meldrew said in The Current State of Rugby:
@Steve said in The Current State of Rugby:
If Umaga dropped his intercept he would get 10 minutes in the bin too.
I always laugh when I hear the ref say " you were not in a realistic position to make the intercept" . If he can touch it. then he is in a realistic position to intercept it. Look how far it travelled from Umagas finger tips before he regathers. Let the game flow for fuck sake.Agree 100%. Punish a deliberate knock-on absolutely, but there are way too many cards for what is in effect simply a failed intercept.
It’s pretty fucking simple
Palm up, go for your life
Palm down, get fucked
Let’s go for the intercept by knocking the ball down
Said no none, EVER -
@Victor-Meldrew said in The Current State of Rugby:
@Steve said in The Current State of Rugby:
If Umaga dropped his intercept he would get 10 minutes in the bin too.
I always laugh when I hear the ref say " you were not in a realistic position to make the intercept" . If he can touch it. then he is in a realistic position to intercept it. Look how far it travelled from Umagas finger tips before he regathers. Let the game flow for fuck sake.Agree 100%. Punish a deliberate knock-on absolutely, but there are way too many cards for what is in effect simply a failed intercept.
It’s pretty fucking simple
Palm up, go for your life
Palm down, get fucked
Let’s go for the intercept by knocking the ball down
Said no none, EVER -
@Victor-Meldrew said in The Current State of Rugby:
Generally agree with much on this thread and agree there's a fair bit wrong which needs to be fixed, but here's a positive thought:
There were 65,000 mainly Japanese supporters to watch the Japan-AB game yesterday providing an atmosphere which was uniquely polite while still being passionate. The All Blacks didn't play well, but that was a pretty damn good game to watch with plenty of skills and tense rugby on display and a great advert for the game.
I think that's more because it was the AB's in town to be fair. And the Japanese folk have a few quid, and are still in the post RWC coital glow.
At the end of the day it's essentially still a team with a couple of poaches who are admittedly doing better than we all imagined.
Gerhard Van der Heever on the bench. For crying out loud. How sterile. How fake. What has the game become. Do the ends just justify the means for everyone now?
:beaming_face_with_smiling_eyes: :beaming_face_with_smiling_eyes:
@Steve said in The Current State of Rugby:
Gerhard Van der Heever on the bench. For crying out loud. How sterile. How fake. What has the game become. Do the ends just justify the means for everyone now?
Yeah he has only lived in Japan for six years. What gives there?
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@MiketheSnow what about palm sideways?
@nzzp said in The Current State of Rugby:
@MiketheSnow what about palm sideways?
Second grade excuse for almost pulling at the local disco
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@Steve said in The Current State of Rugby:
Gerhard Van der Heever on the bench. For crying out loud. How sterile. How fake. What has the game become. Do the ends just justify the means for everyone now?
Yeah he has only lived in Japan for six years. What gives there?
@ARHS said in The Current State of Rugby:
@Steve said in The Current State of Rugby:
Gerhard Van der Heever on the bench. For crying out loud. How sterile. How fake. What has the game become. Do the ends just justify the means for everyone now?
Yeah he has only lived in Japan for six years. What gives there?
Couldn't give a fiddlers how long he lived there. I live in Spain. Im not fucking Spanish.
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@ARHS said in The Current State of Rugby:
@Steve said in The Current State of Rugby:
Gerhard Van der Heever on the bench. For crying out loud. How sterile. How fake. What has the game become. Do the ends just justify the means for everyone now?
Yeah he has only lived in Japan for six years. What gives there?
Couldn't give a fiddlers how long he lived there. I live in Spain. Im not fucking Spanish.
@Steve said in The Current State of Rugby:
@ARHS said in The Current State of Rugby:
@Steve said in The Current State of Rugby:
Gerhard Van der Heever on the bench. For crying out loud. How sterile. How fake. What has the game become. Do the ends just justify the means for everyone now?
Yeah he has only lived in Japan for six years. What gives there?
Couldn't give a fiddlers how long he lived there. I live in Spain. Im not fucking Spanish.
But you’re an amateur Spaniard
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@Victor-Meldrew said in The Current State of Rugby:
@Steve said in The Current State of Rugby:
If Umaga dropped his intercept he would get 10 minutes in the bin too.
I always laugh when I hear the ref say " you were not in a realistic position to make the intercept" . If he can touch it. then he is in a realistic position to intercept it. Look how far it travelled from Umagas finger tips before he regathers. Let the game flow for fuck sake.Agree 100%. Punish a deliberate knock-on absolutely, but there are way too many cards for what is in effect simply a failed intercept.
It’s pretty fucking simple
Palm up, go for your life
Palm down, get fucked
Let’s go for the intercept by knocking the ball down
Said no none, EVER@MiketheSnow said in The Current State of Rugby:
@Victor-Meldrew said in The Current State of Rugby:
@Steve said in The Current State of Rugby:
If Umaga dropped his intercept he would get 10 minutes in the bin too.
I always laugh when I hear the ref say " you were not in a realistic position to make the intercept" . If he can touch it. then he is in a realistic position to intercept it. Look how far it travelled from Umagas finger tips before he regathers. Let the game flow for fuck sake.Agree 100%. Punish a deliberate knock-on absolutely, but there are way too many cards for what is in effect simply a failed intercept.
It’s pretty fucking simple
Palm up, go for your life
Palm down, get fucked
Let’s go for the intercept by knocking the ball down
Said no none, EVERFair enough. But I've seen cards for palms & fingertips underneath the ball.
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@Steve said in The Current State of Rugby:
@ARHS said in The Current State of Rugby:
@Steve said in The Current State of Rugby:
Gerhard Van der Heever on the bench. For crying out loud. How sterile. How fake. What has the game become. Do the ends just justify the means for everyone now?
Yeah he has only lived in Japan for six years. What gives there?
Couldn't give a fiddlers how long he lived there. I live in Spain. Im not fucking Spanish.
But you’re an amateur Spaniard
@MiketheSnow said in The Current State of Rugby:
@Steve said in The Current State of Rugby:
@ARHS said in The Current State of Rugby:
@Steve said in The Current State of Rugby:
Gerhard Van der Heever on the bench. For crying out loud. How sterile. How fake. What has the game become. Do the ends just justify the means for everyone now?
Yeah he has only lived in Japan for six years. What gives there?
Couldn't give a fiddlers how long he lived there. I live in Spain. Im not fucking Spanish.
But you’re an amateur Spaniard
Id be their starting 10 judging by the standard.
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@MiketheSnow said in The Current State of Rugby:
@Victor-Meldrew said in The Current State of Rugby:
@Steve said in The Current State of Rugby:
If Umaga dropped his intercept he would get 10 minutes in the bin too.
I always laugh when I hear the ref say " you were not in a realistic position to make the intercept" . If he can touch it. then he is in a realistic position to intercept it. Look how far it travelled from Umagas finger tips before he regathers. Let the game flow for fuck sake.Agree 100%. Punish a deliberate knock-on absolutely, but there are way too many cards for what is in effect simply a failed intercept.
It’s pretty fucking simple
Palm up, go for your life
Palm down, get fucked
Let’s go for the intercept by knocking the ball down
Said no none, EVERFair enough. But I've seen cards for palms & fingertips underneath the ball.
@Victor-Meldrew think thats the point, those shouldnt!
As above, if you get a finger tip to it, directed upwards, you have a chance, albeit small to intercept, therefore not a YC, IMO.
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@Victor-Meldrew think thats the point, those shouldnt!
As above, if you get a finger tip to it, directed upwards, you have a chance, albeit small to intercept, therefore not a YC, IMO.
@taniwharugby said in The Current State of Rugby:
@Victor-Meldrew think thats the point, those shouldnt!
Yet they often do. It's interesting that a heck of a lot of the current gripes about the game come down to inconsistent officiating.
That probably can't be eliminated completely, but a real effort to improve it would be a step forward.
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@taniwharugby said in The Current State of Rugby:
@Victor-Meldrew think thats the point, those shouldnt!
Yet they often do. It's interesting that a heck of a lot of the current gripes about the game come down to inconsistent officiating.
That probably can't be eliminated completely, but a real effort to improve it would be a step forward.
@Victor-Meldrew yep, simplifying some of the rules would help, too much ambiguity.
I mean the intercept one for example, it needs to go one way or the other....if you attempt an intercept and fail, then its the same sanction regardless of circumstances (whether this is a knock on, pen or YC) remove the ref having to make a call on what he thinks the intent was...although you could probably use the hand direction as a factor as this is pretty clear, but then this involves the TMO, and we really want less of them as they still get stuff wrong
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@Steve said in The Current State of Rugby:
This is the Rugby I used to enjoy. Jeopardy on both sides. Either team could have scored in this passage. Forwards were strong, backs were fast. When the ball went wide it was on.
Notice how not one player or commentator complained when Marty Holah arrowed Dawson into the turf like a sack of garbage.
Good times.
Holah would be red carded today no question.
I think the most amazing thing of all is Mike Tindalls flowing tresses on display.
@MN5 said in The Current State of Rugby:
@Steve said in The Current State of Rugby:
This is the Rugby I used to enjoy. Jeopardy on both sides. Either team could have scored in this passage. Forwards were strong, backs were fast. When the ball went wide it was on.
Notice how not one player or commentator complained when Marty Holah arrowed Dawson into the turf like a sack of garbage.
Good times.
Holah would be red carded today no question.
I think the most amazing thing of all is Mike Tindalls flowing tresses on display.
there was also at least a couple of seatbelt tackles and a couple of line balls...the socials (and this board) would be alive with screen grabs showing how shit the ref was...and thats if he had missed them and not stopped play after about 10 seconds
