All about speeding up the game. The bigest culprit right now is the whistle however. Given the size of the bokkes forwards, anything to speed them up is a good idea. But I’m still dissapointed not to see at least 2 backs mandated on the bench, or a cut to it.
To reduce the whistle it might be time to warn specific players. One warning for giving away a penalty and then a yellow card. Might be funny to see teams at 10 players
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I would like the time for all kicks reduced even further, 60 seconds is way too long. 10s are able to drop kick at a snap and there’s been recent instances where the ball drops off the T, and the 10 resets it and kicks in about 10-15 seconds. We need to be less precious about kicks and stop making it some sacred moment. Reward kickers who can get the ball away accurately at speed, rather than giving them time for a meditation and moment of zen.
It feels a bit like they want union to become league… someone has it in for the scrum.
Are you referring to:
Scrum-halves will also be given more protection around scrums, rucks and mauls to ensure a supply of cleaner, quicker ball and faster phases of play.
Or something else? Didn’t see anything else related to scrums in the article.
Does that include stopping teams like Ireland and others from driving round the side of the ruck, flopping on the ball and pushing the 9 out of the way? How can that not be “playing the 9”?
Yup, was trialled during Super Rugby and the 9 basically becomes a protected species; effectively you can’t get in their way, drag them in, push them out, interfere with getting the ball away at all.
At times it felt like it was going too far but did make for cleaner ball and more play, less of the dumb stuff that just interrupts the action.
Is the 9 not fair game if contesting?
I’m talking about the case where the ruck is set, and a defending player swings around the side as they grapple with someone, and collides with the 9, who is bending down to distribute the ball.
The defending team have no legal way of getting the ball, and they’re doing this movement around the ruck to slow the ball down. To me, that’s illegal. Especially as they’re coming from the side.
If the ball was still contestable, I’d say it was fair game.
Yeah that sort of thing got penalised in SR.
It’s that and the previous recent set of changes where there is no longer scrum option from a free kick.
I don’t see that as a problem. A scrum exists to restart the game with a contest for the ball when there has been a mistake such as a knock-on, forward pass etc. If you claim a free-kick, then you should have to kick it - it’s in the name.
The problem with scrums is they lead to penalties - so in effect you start penalising knock-ons, or other phases of rugby that are accidental. And the scrum penalties are awfully inconsistent - you saw it in France v New Zealand tonight. Sometimes an immediate penalty, other times 2 scrums could look identical and one would get penalised the other wouldn’t. Its just bad for the game to have that sort of inconsistency.
None of the changes in the article impact the importance of the scrum in the slightest; all it means is less fake injuries, water breaks and pissing about setting them up.