Ten ways to improve the game in 2010
From farcical citings, rugby scandals and questions raised over the popularity of the game there’s been more than enough on-and-off the field issues that kept the rugby world buzzing and we took a closer look at some of these issues and what we’d like to see in 2010.
The 2009 rugby season has been a rollercoaster ride and there have been plenty of contentious issues arising from the game throughout the year and the rugby365 team has decided to put together a “wishlist” for the blockbuster year ahead.
1. Move towards a global season:
In the wake of SANZAR’s announcement of the expanded Super 15 series along with the expanded Tri-Nations it will be hard to find a place on the rugby calendar for any new tournament in any part of the world. Rugby, unofficially, is already on a global time-table with non-stop action taking place all over the world at any time.
So, why not officially make it a global season and avoid the annual issue of player-burnout? SANZAR’s (South Africa, New Zealand and Australia Rugby) top players are exposed to the rigours and intensity of the Super 14 and Test rugby all-year long. And this explains why so many franchises were heavily hit with injuries during the opening rounds of this year’s Super 14 tournament and is why there could a similar situation in 2010.
A global system would allow teams to manage players better and would most certainly make it easier keep track of what’s happening all around the rugby world.
2. Clarity on rugby contract loopholes:
The Jaque Fourie contract saga put South Africa’s contracting system under the spotlight and the player’s subsequent victory at the arbitration hearing has further questioned the clout of the current system.
Willem Alberts and Louis Ludik have since left the Lions after their respective legal teams found similar “loopholes” in their contracts while the Cheetahs and Lions are also currently embroiled in a tug-o-war over the services of scrumhalf JP Joubert.
SARPA (SA Players Association) CEO, Peet Haymans has even admitted that the Association’s “Standard Player Contract” is not watertight and we hope that these silly contractual issues won’t be commonplace in 2010.
3. Clarity on the Boks’ overseas ‘policy’:
Springbok coach Peter de Villiers made an about-turn on his so-called overseas “policy” when he called up CJ van der Linde, BJ Botha and Jean de Villiers for the year-end tour after stressing at the beginning of the year that you can only play for the Boks if you ply your trade locally.
According to De Villiers, SA Rugby never had a policy on foreign-based players and it was a “Peter de Villiers” policy not to select foreign Boks. He is yet to come out and admit to changing his views and we all hope 2010 will be a year in which the best will play for the Boks, no matter where they currently ply their trade.
4. The return of proper tours including midweek games:
When the British and Irish Lions left South Africa, rugby returned to its predictable self and while the international playing calendar remains a complex issue, the series illustrated the true value of old-fashioned rugby tours and is why we feel it’s time to re-introduce this lost tradition.
Tours ceased in the professional era and the only way it can be revived is in the established June Test window.
The Tri-Nations, much like the Super Rugby format has lost its aura and implementing tours will cause a revival in Test rugby and it would also decrease the workload on players. The International Rugby Board are consideringh a return to traditional international tours however, logistically it could become a nightmare. Rugby remains a game deeply rooted in tradition and officials will have to revisit this to avoid the rumblings of a “rugby recession” become reality.
5. The Breakdown law reviewed:
The breakdown still remains the most contentious issue in world rugby and often has fans and players up in arms whenever a referee awards a penalty at the contact area.
Former All Black scrumhalf Justin Marshall recently propagated a law in which the tackler has no rights to the ball and that the tackler just has to roll away. It would be worth just experimenting where the tackler had no rights to give some advantage to attacking teams and encouragement for teams to attack. By allowing the tackler on his feet to hang on to the ball has definitely aided defences and the laws at the moment certainly doesn’t need to aid defence.
6. An IPL-style rugby tournament:
Wouldn’t it be great to have the worlds best rugby players mixed up in various teams playing at some of the most famous rugby stadiums in the world?
Super Rugby may generate substantial revenue off TV coverage but it lacks a broader appeal. What SANZAR, and perhaps the IRB, needs to do is to use the IPL cricket concept to re-ignite the game and broaden the spectator appeal.
Franchises in Australasia are finding it very difficult to get bums on seats while in South Africa some of the teams regularly struggle to get half-full stadiums for home fixtures. Barbarians games, like the recent clash at Twickers against the All Blacks, creates a major buzz with fans and an IPL-style rugby tourney, over a short period, could rejuvenate the game while it will also be a very lucrative exercise.
Cricket is reaching out to new audiences as the sports landscape changes and that’s why rugby also needs to move with the times.
7. An annual World Rankings system:
The IRB’s ranking system has caused a bit of an outcry this year – mainly because of the blurred manner in which the system works. The teams are judged via an accumulative system, which means that if a lower ranked team, beats the all the top 10 teams in a calendar year, that team still wouldn’t finish at the top of the list.
So, for a more logical annual ranking system, teams should start every calendar year on zero points and accumulate points until the end of the year, which would make it a lot easier for everybody to understand, who’s best.
9. No more night games:
A growing trend in the professional game is the dreaded night games. While it brought about the possibility of midweek and Friday-night games, it doesn’t seem to go down too well with the fans especially in cooler climates.
Crowd attendance in New Zealand and Australia have been on a steady decline over the past few years and it’s also no surprise that most of the games are played at night. These fixtures are scheduled in the evening so as to appeal to as wide a TV audience as possible.
The commercial interest along with television coverage initiated the shift away from daytime games and it is abundantly clear that the powers that be has those in front of the TV, rather than those at the stadium at heart.
9. Handicap system for lower tier teams:
Italy coach Nick Mallett bemoaned his side’s tour of Australasia earlier this year as the Azzurri had a tough calendar in 2009, which included games against teams that are ranked above them.
We propose that teams that are ranked higher than their opponents are given a points handycap. Using the average points-gap system between the teams would allow the lower tier team to get the “head start” in the match. Won’t this spice up those previously one-sided affairs?
10. Citing inconsistencies:
While 2009 has been a long and exciting year for rugby one of the most glaring blights on the game has been the inconsistency of citings when it comes to foul play. Some of the findings have been bizarre if not farcical.
Matt Giteau was allowed to walk away as “free man” after his blatant attempt on Springbok star Fourie du Preez in the Tr-Nations while the Boks were penalised for their actions of solidarity and protest for Bakkies Botha, following the upholding of his two-week suspension by an appeal committee for dangerously charging into a ruck without binding on a player.
Botha’s actions were not nearly as dangerous or as deliberate as that of Giteau, yet the South African player is banned and the Australian is let off the hook. There are systems in place whereby officials and referees are held accountable for poor performance and there needs to be a category for citing officials to also get “cited”.
* So, what do you think? Could our ideas work in 2010? Or what about your own ideas? Leave a comment below and let us know what YOU think!
By rugby365.com
