Better Rugby Rules

Source: NZRU, ARU drop the ball – David Moffett

Extracts..

A leaderless, rudderless and totally inept organisation. For once I am not talking about the New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) but about Sanzar, or at least the Australian and New Zealand components of it.

Sanzar is the umbrella organisation of the Super 14 and Tri-Nations.

Super 14 is in dire trouble.

No mention by O’Neill of the damage to the game wrought by the Australian Rugby Union (ARU)-inspired ELVs (Experimental Law Variations). [BLOG: Bad management of the game means, lower attendance from the public, means lower sponsorship dollars, means lower pay for the players]

In their panic to try to compete with the other three football codes in Australia the ELVs were introduced to try to provide nonstop action as a way of combating the popularity of Aussie rules, league and football.

They have been an abject failure. Most will be ditched by the International Rugby Board in May. As predicted in a previous column, the northern hemisphere dumped most of the ELVs.

While the Super 14 implodes what are the views of the NZRU. Who knows?

Typically we have not heard from their all but invisible CEO Steve Tew. Just when long-suffering fans want to hear from their governing body, what do we get?

Nothing, nada, zilch, zero.

Just another example of the NZRU seemingly happy to toe the Australian line. There are times when I firmly believe that the ARU sees the NZRU as little more than a seventh state such is their ability to impact on the future of rugby in this country.

COMMENTS: You see there are idiots running the NZRU, its not my imagination at all.