Radical law changes World Rugby boss Bill Beaumont must do if he wants to revive rugby

7:04 am, May 9, 2020

The re-elected President of World Rugby, Sir Bill Beaumont, and his newly elected board have to work hard for them.

The game of rugby globally is changing, in part due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, however the current global health crisis should not mask the issues that have been affecting the health of the game itself.

Rugby is not dying, but it urgently needs a health check and a change in lifestyle.

Sport can no longer sustain itself as it did before, living off healthy transmission income with administrations that enjoy the generosity that income once brought. All at a time when the game’s frugally laid foundations were a nostalgic last-minute occurrence.

One has only to see how gambling has been run in Australia since the advent of professionalism in late 1995 as a case study of how once a power in the international gambling now depends on the precipice of financial ruin and languishes around the sixth or seventh in the world ranking.

There is no doubt that there are many recipes and therapies ready to be offered to remedy rugby’s health crisis, but for rugby to treat its infections, it simply must rediscover what it once was.

It was a running game that was championed by those who had comprehensive athletic ability, a tough constitution, work ethic, team focus, and a creative and adventurous spirit whose love for the game was evident from the way they played it.

The game itself was essentially fun, safe to play, and relatively easy to understand. Ask a non-rugby person if they think the game is fun, safe, and easy to understand today.

If you were good at rugby, you would be chosen on the best sides. If you were mediocre, there is a game for you, and if you were just north of despair, guess what? Rugby welcomed you.

There was no need for diversity policies and it didn’t matter what school you went to. It never has, and it is a vague argument to suggest otherwise.

If you were to ask the late great Queensland and Wallabies coach Bob Templeton if his team had a diversity policy, he would probably answer, “Yes, we will both kick and run the ball.”

However, for one reason or another, the game has become lobotomized.

Where once the game encouraged and allowed for creative and open play, the game has become too risk-averse and has transformed into a game of power rather than one of athletics and skill. A game based on moving from one structure to the next constricting the team in possession of space along the way as the path to victory.

Why the hell World Rugby, in all its previous incarnations and markings, would ever allow a game to defend defense and space limitation if it knew its true self?

Among the surprising revelations was the decline in popularity of the rugby union as the ninth most popular sport on the Australian market. Https://t.co/KNvrzUl6h3

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It seems not, since the game has become a complex exhibition that wants both the player and the spectator to be entertained by the collision on continuity.

If the fan wants that, he can watch the rugby league or football.

In its effort to evolve rugby, the sport has grown closer to its offspring, fails to differentiate itself from them and is lost in the fog of professional sport.

Subsequently, the size, shape, and abilities of the rugby player have changed as the game demanded more power and less mental dexterity.

Now we regularly see external backs that weigh more than 100 kilograms in search of space or tight backward meters that can weigh more than 130 kilograms.

The impact of the collision can be enormous, if not dangerous. Then we see those gigantic forwards who run in their respective “capsules” with their heads down and launch themselves into the next concussion in search of the most important meters and the fastball to search again for space.

So ultimately it’s about space. World Rugby must adjust the current laws to allow space both from the restart and from the game in general.

The need for more athletic players who are willing to exploit space and thrive in the unstructured moment will become apparent as there are likely to be fewer requirements to knock down pods as a form of space posing as a game entertaining.

“I have a clear mandate to work with Bernard [Laporte] to implement progressive, meaningful and sustainable change, “Beaumont said.

“As an organization, we must lead, be transparent, responsible, and continue to serve everyone. We must be united in our drive to make this great sport even better, simpler, safer and more accessible. We must listen to the players, fans, competitions, our unions and regions, and make decisions that are in everyone’s best interest with our strong values ​​at the forefront. “

Well Bill, here are a couple of thoughts to get you started.

Under current law, scrum half not in possession in a scrum situation may prevail in an aspect of the game in which the right to participate has not been earned.

It is a legislated fraud in my opinion. As you will see in the diagram below, taken from the World Rugby website, the waiting offender is red.

The scrum should be an eight-on-eight contest, not a nine-on-nine.

As it is, a scrum half that is not in possession can move to the last feet of an opposing flank, and often limits the opportunity for a No. 8 to run from the base of the scrum, or a dealer, like the scrum. – Half legal laziness around an area of ​​the scrum that his side has lost.

Why is this allowed?

For some illogical reason, a player who for all intense purposes has not participated in the scrum contest has an opportunity to try to alter possession won in a contest in which he did not participate.

To be frank, it is rubbish and frustrating to see a law that allows cheap and unattractive gambling to stifle the opposition’s legitimately earned possession and all the glorious possibilities it offers.

The half of the scrum not in possession should, after the scrum feed, have to move behind their own No. 8, or start from there, thus freeing up space for attack possibilities.

Second, lifting weights in the lineout appears to have contributed to the reduction of space in midfield and beyond.

Lineouts have become such a specialized aspect of the game that teams often seek to use shortened variations of the set piece, allowing forwards to take up midfield space as ball runners.

This reduces the space for attacking players to run as they are marked defensively by their opponents forward.

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In the absence of a legal promotion, he would invite the most athletic and skilled jumper to find his place in the game again.

Currently, a successful exit depends more on the successful timing of the launch and elevation, as opposed to the jump itself. Again, there is an imbalance that favors the power of the lift, over the cunning and athletic ability of the individual jumper.

If the laws were reversed to individual jumpers dueling for the ball, more competition would ensue, and the logic would be that other forwards would likely be placed in the lineout to be easily present to aid in security of possession or to exploit any errors. that may have happened.

That would avoid overcrowding in the midfield and create more space.

Also, if the line lift were removed, it would probably be safer for the jumper as the heights they currently reach are dangerous heights to fall to if the grip or balance of either lifter is lost.

Falling from the height of a jump without assistance would be profoundly less dangerous.

If lifting the lineout is to remain legal, perhaps shortened variations should be prohibited, bringing all advances to the lineout to ensure that there is such a significant space for an attacking side to explode.

Such adjustments would encourage a more open game, thus attracting new fans and reviving old ones. The adjustments would help make rugby a fun, safe and easier game for the player and spectator to understand from base to the international stage.

Since Beaumont’s re-election announcement, 2003 World Cup winning coach Sir Clive Woodward said: “I would say that the rugby situation around the world is about to become so tense and fast that what is most needed it is innovation and action. ” “

Bill, there is no time like the present.