Better Rugby Rules

Source: Stats shows there’s still wow-power  – Duncan JohnStone

Mr JohnStone says that Super rugby has the WOW power because the stats say so :

• First 4 weeks have seen 131 tries, thus the game must be more open.
• 20 out of 27 games has seen the score difference btw the teams less than 13

He claims that because of these stats it’s not boring.

Thank god this guy is not your financial adviser as he would have sold you shares a year ago, and we all know how that turned out. Mr JohnStone get it through your head, the score or even the number of tries does not measure the true nature of a skillful rugby contest. Maybe he should get data for these statistical questions:

• 1 How many kicks per game, and quality of them ?
• 2 How many minutes are forwards standing in the back line  ?
• 3 How many minutes do props/hookers run with the ball compared to backs ?
• 4 How many occasions do you see a pure back line one on one contests ?
• 5 How many mauls (yes I like them)  ?
• 6 How many long and short lineouts  ?
• 7 How many scrums,  with/without resets ?
• 8 How many styles of rugby have been demonstrated ?
• 9 How many minutes the game is dominated with the field wide defence pattern ?

NOTE : Pre and post ELVS game stats should be studied.

Mr JohnStone you can have a game that ends 6-0, and it can be considered a great game. I can point you to a few games of the ABs vs Boks over the years. Lots of tries can be seen as ‘basketball’ rugby, a style that breaks down the multiple of rugby contests for more dotting down action. (Please read Foundation posts of this blog for more explanation, thanks.)

Mr JohnStone is a half arse hack, thinking that the rugby public can be tricked into believing that the ELVs are better than ‘cheese on toast’ with a few ‘not so deep’ stats. This guy should be running a bank in Wall Street as this type of spin is well sought after there!

UPDATE1: Source: ELVs face one final talkfest  – Marc Hinton

The International Rugby Board has one last chance to sell its controversial Experimental Law Variations at a global gathering in London at the end of this month as the May deadline looms.

The IRB will convene a conference of 70 key stakeholders in London when the ELVs, which have been largely decried in the north, will be given the fine-tooth comb treatment.

But with the decisive May vote looming for the IRB’s council and the vibe from the northern hemisphere largely negative on the law variations, even the IRB is admitting prospects aren’t exactly encouraging.

“They will be debated in much detail over two days,” said IRB chief executive of the London conference on the ELVs. “There will be presentations, we’ll look at videos of matches, all the stats and everyone will get the chance to look at all the ELVs and take their thoughts away and discuss them within their unions.

“What will happen, I don’t know,” shrugged Miller. “We were asked after the 2003 World Cup to look at areas of the game, and put the process in place and have extended trials which we’ve done.

COMMENTS:The NZ rugby commentators in print and on TV have been given a silent mandate to push one view of the ELVs and that’s ‘be in love with them’, otherwise your local NZRU wont talk to you any more. I recall only two dissenters in NZ, and one was Pat Lam, thats it. All the ex rugby players paid via SKY TV are not encourage to diss the sport as it turns off the punters (note: When I mean diss, I mean constructive discussion about the outside influences pissing off local rugby fan.) Looks like to me that ELVs will be watered down as the ‘money north’ just dont share the love of them.