Better Rugby Rules

             Crusaders win!

Yes I can honestly say this was one of the better ELV rugby games in the Super 14 season. But what did Robbie Deans work out at the beginning of the season that the other Super 14 coaches did not.

1) ELV rugby laws allows play to be very loose (non structured): Using free kicks solely for tap and go (add to this short lineouts) allows a game to have very little traditional rugby union structure. I believe Robbie new that having scrums and long lineouts (with the odd maul) allowed a better platform for attacking rugby. The final had more than average scrums, long lineouts and mauls. This is why the final was a better representation of rugby union that earlier Super 14 games. Also Robbie doesn’t need to be a rocket scientist to realise that the field wide defensive line is removed while executing a scrum or full lineout.

2) The kick and chase game is now critical to acquire territory: Kicking to find a defensive player out of position, up and unders landing outside the defenders 22, kicks that find middle ground and bounce causing defenders to take time to respond. The game of force back is more prevalent under the ELV rugby. To have a smart kicking game you need smart kickers, this means all players numbered 9 to 15 must have an eye for the tactical kick. Just having a smart kicker at first five or fullback is not enough. The aim is to execute running rugby in the opposition half, the Waratahs on occasion broke this rule.

3) Player type selection: Selecting a tight five for solely tight forward duties is over. Brad Thorn is the new tight forward mold, he must be loose and tight when the circumstance requires it (Yes you guessed it, ARU can now go shopping for forwards in the NRL). I guess while scrums still require pushing the only true tight forward is the tight head prop. Mobile, tall and very athletic tight forwards are the prescription. A game for all shapes and sizes, not any more!

3) Fast ball beats defense: This is not just true for ELV rugby, but the execution of fast and accurate passing finally allowed the Crusaders wings to get some space (on one occasion it lead to the try of the game) to run around their opposition.

4) Fitness: Yes having the puff and pace to go the distance, this was very evident in the last 20 minutes of Super 14 final. The side that lacks fitness is slower to set up an attacking back line, slower to run onto the ball, slower to cover the field in defense and more likely to drop a tackle.  The Waratahs were dead in the water in the second half.

Why should I be worried about the state of rugby union when the Super 14 final was confirmed by all as such a good game.

Firstly, there was only 13 out of 23 ELVs applied in the 2008 Super 14 season, yet to be used laws around the maul and lineout allow for more traditional rugby union structure to be removed from the game (see Foundation posts for more discussion). 

Secondly, answer this question:  Is the above style likely to be adopted in every ELV rugby game?  Yes if you want to win! Rugby union may be entering one style of play, the Crusaders way!  I am afraid when ever I watch NRL or AFL all I see is the same generic game every weak, if the players wore the same colors each weeks I wouldn’t know if different teams were playing. Rugby union should not be getting design concepts from NRL or AFL. It would seam otherwise !

The rugby union styles of England, France and South Africa may be morphed into the Crusaders ELV rugby style and the winning of the game will just come down to who executes this style better than the other. This will lead rugby union to be boring and indifferent!

Ian McGeehcan has a point when he said ..”“My concern is that we will end up playing one type of game, that the variety and depth of options which the game has always had will be taken away”… HERE

A quote before you leave:

..”They say that death kills you, but death doesn’t kill you. Boredom and indifference kill you.”.. By Iggy Pop 

This quote highlights that rugby union greatest sin is to be boring and indifferent.

Source: Struggle to give away tickets for Crusaders-Canes’ semi – The Press

Canterbury rugby officials have had trouble even giving away tickets for the Crusaders’ Super 14 semi-final against the Hurricanes in Christchurch tonight.

The Canterbury Rugby Union (CRU) and radio station More FM staged a promotion yesterday giving away a ticket with each one sold to boost flagging sales to the game.

Union chief executive Hamish Riach said last night that the promotion had generated some sales and extra interest in the match but was “not hugely successful”.

By late yesterday 16,400 tickets had been sold for the 25,000 capacity AMI Stadium. Riach said the response was “puzzling and really frustrating”.

“We have been a little bit caught by surprise at the response.

“The Hurricanes have always been a really good drawcard and we were pretty hopeful of a big crowd.

“It could be Robbie Deans and Reuben Thorne’s last appearance and we know how much they have contributed to the Crusaders’ success.”

Riach said the demolition of the old East Stands at AMI Stadium was a significant factor in crowd attendance.

Many of the seats in the old stands were under cover and were filled by more traditional fans, some of whom said they would not return until the new stand was built. A late surge in sales today could depend on the weather but the forecast is not promising cloud, light rain and cold south-westerlies.

Canterbury Rugby Union president Tane Norton said the shocking weather against the Sharks three weeks ago would have put a lot of people off.

“So they will leave it until the last minute and see what the weather’s like,” he added yesterday.

He said rising costs and the run of home games could also be the cause.

“There’s that old thing of money starting to tell.”

MY COMMENTS: I was at the Holy Grail in Christchurch to watch the game and I had the opportunity to speak to some of the locals. Yes part of the reason was the construction and another was the new style of rugby that does not sit well with the seasoned crusaders rugby viewer. They don’t like the force back and touch football (broken play or non structured) style either. Most of the tries in the Crusaders final was the result of run and bash, there was one excellent back line move by the Hurricanes that was just short of  try. The reviews of this game have re enforced the need for a smart kick and chase game otherwise your not going to profit under the ELV rugby, yes this is just like force back. If this information is hitting the NZRU desks I bet its being ignored and hoped that ‘She will be right’ after time. I guess ticket sales will be the ultimate judge.

Source: Sonny Bill could switch codes within two weeks – manager

The manager of Bulldogs player Sonny Bill Williams says the Kiwis forward could walk out on rugby league within two weeks. 

Former Australia coach Eddie Jones said Williams could earn up to $800,000 (AUD)  a year if he headed to Europe.

Jes wayne, news that Dan Carter could earn $1,400,000 NZD for 6 months work in France has the league boys seriously re-thinking rugby union.

Funny that !

Source: Finals expansion on cards – Greg Growden

..”THE expansion of the Super 14 finals to a six-team play-off next year is all but a certainty after this season’s logjam saw two form teams miss the cut.

SANZAR officials have been considering revamping the finals, with the most obvious first step being to increase the number of teams involved following repeated complaints that a four-team final is far too restrictive.”..

 I have no problem with this, but it obviously a commercial decision for more (Murdoch) TV money, and the ARU and NZRU need the funds (to cover previous management errors).  So more rugby for the elite in the professional game, you can bet the professional players wont be seen in the amateur Air New Zealand cup as much (if at all), not so good for that sponsor. This is of course little concern to the ARU.

More here : Warning – ARU CEO John ONeill, Super rugby – It’s in safe hands (not) !

Source: Where to next ? – Jim Kayes

Extracts..

For a long time one solution had seemed simple.

Create a longer Super competition with the Air New Zealand Cup played at the same time as a feeder competition, leaving plenty of time afterwards for test matches and a decent break over summer.

There you go – problem solved.

It could be argued that South Africa should be excluded from a revamped Super competition. Games in South Africa don’t suit New Zealand and Australian television audiences and the travel for teams is arduous.

The South African sides have largely failed on the field, with the Bulls’ win last year their first title, while the poor crowds they attract in New Zealand suggests Kiwis are not enthralled by the style of rugby they play.

But South Africa is a massive rugby nation and helps deliver a credible product to the broadcaster. It would not be cast aside lightly.

That said, the Tri-Nations is a tired product, with the third round added in 2006 failing to excite punters.

It should be scrapped, or radically trimmed so that tours with midweek games can be re-introduced – a concept that for now collides headfirst with a full calendar.

Ideally an international Super Six or Eight could be played two years after each World Cup with the longer tours held during the “off” years.

It might be back to the future but it’s what people want.

Club rugby can be played while the Super competition is on and flow into the domestic competition, just as the Super tournament will lead into the tests.

Read this with Wynne Gray’s Super Rugby idea HERE

I wonder if the NZRU reads this stuff?

Source NZHerald : Wynne Gray: Forget the world, let’s make it more interesting at home

 Extract..

Let’s consider a few alternatives and start with the World Cup, which is not going to disappear. That event is scheduled quadrennially for September and October.

So in the other three years of the cycle let’s make that the time for both inbound and outbound tours or tests. Forget the sort of unbecoming drive-by internationals we are getting from Ireland and England in June.

The Super series should begin in April and run for about 20 weeks of round robin and finals competition. New Zealand rugby would be better served if the competition had the same number of teams but no South African content.

Time zones and an absence of provincial tribalism are sporting enemies in the Super series. Transtasman combat is an answer; eight NZ sides and six from Oz playing in front of capacity crowds at smaller stadiums would also be more financially sustainable, logical, interesting and easier to follow.

Players would have the progressive build-up of club and country, while an amateur club and amateur NPC competitions could run underneath the professional series.

A gap between the round robin and finals could be put aside for the Bledisloe Cup, while tests against the Springboks would become far more appealing if they went into the September-October international window. The distinctive honour of tests would return if players were involved in six or eight a year rather than double that as they are now.

The All Blacks could then take leave before Christmas. All professionals could have January and February to condition and March to prepare with their team before an April start.

More on this subject : Super rugby – It’s in safe hands (not) ! 

The RWC is rugby Olympics.

(Note: It was the NZRU that wanted the RWC, so bite your tongue, before you scream.)

In most Olympic sports, there are the lull years immediate after the games. An athlete can not be primed to 110% all the time.

If a player does remove themselves from the local NZ competition it is conceivable that some other young bright thing will step up, or maybe the player sees that the grass is so green on the other side they will never return. Those are the risks.

But I must make it clear, the NZRU should NEVER allow an overseas player to be selected for international duties. To do so would remove the union final and only bargaining chip. Players must play for super rugby prior to the international season to be available for international duties. To do so would be a transfer of power from union to player. Not Jona, Dan, Fitz or any player group is greater than the game, not ever !

A player that has international achievements will always trump those that have only national achievements, for all time!

Good luck to you Dan Carter, see post here.

Didn’t Leon MacDonald look good after his return from Japan, and another Troy Flavell well not so much !

Also it should work both ways, hey Jonny Wilkinson do you need a sabbatical down under?

It also should be noted that the richest New Zealand rugby player (a couple of years ago now) had played ZERO internationals. I understand the son of the great AllBlack Fergie McCormick was earning $1 mil a year in Japan. But who cares, his name is, dunno, there you see no international kudos! (But he did do well, well done.)

UPDATE1: Chris Rattue: Sweetheart deals will rip All Blacks apart 

On the individual deal for Dan Carter.

Extracts..

..”What the NZRU is saying is that Carter has an automatic ride into the test side without the same examination that will be applied to every other player.

What is so mind boggling is that any Carter deal would open the escape hatch for the very players the NZRU are trying to keep. Richie McCaw would be a sitter for a dispensation, as should Ali Williams and a few others.

If all the best players are on special deals overseas, what is the point of the rule in the first place?

The ground will also be ripe for resentment and rebellion among those who are denied the favoured status on the whim of men such as Tew and Graham Henry, whose competence to judge these matters must be in severe doubt anyway, given their rotten performance in running the World Cup campaign last year”… 

..”The moment this code of unity is broken is the moment that players abandon the last vestiges of common good that are vital for the test match battle and instead rediscover their instincts of self-interest.”..

..”Now, with the crumbling ruins piling up around it, the NZRU is preparing to tear away the remaining bonds which can still make the All Blacks great. They are separating players into categories, creating division that is likely to rip them apart.”…

“…The game is over. Rather than heralding the great new dawn, sneaky Carter-type deals signal the beginning of the end.”..

WARNING: New Zealand will be the Brazil (in soccer) of world rugby.

I never agreed to allow Dan Carter to have automatic selection into international duties, he is not that good and I would not care if he was. I did say if a player wished to bugger off for a break, and come back and try his luck (by playing super rugby, and take a pay cut) for the All Blacks then that’s fine.

The article above implies that the BROADCASTER CEO and SPONSOR CEO are talking to the NZRU CEO, saying that Dan Carter is worth more to the game in hard cash than the game its self . NO, NO, no player is bigger than the game. DUDE its not golf, tennis or motor racing its a team sport. I refer you back to the Robbie Deans advert ‘A great team will always beat a great player!’. Money is rulling the game.

If what Chris Rattue is saying is true, then CEO Steve Tew (and the board) is a ‘blood idiot’ and he (they) should drink and drive to confirm it. Or resign as his many years in the NZRU have been correlated with some of the most stupid rugby administrator decisions of all time. See this post.

 Thanks to:  Chris ‘Patton‘ Rattue .

 UDPATE2: Peter Bills : Top Springboks must choose between country and fortune

Extract..

…”The suddenly emboldened union has told its most prized men if they want to represent their country they must be prepared to forego a financial bonanza overseas.”…

…”But the union is playing hard to get. As an insider said: “We know that every single agent in South Africa is watching the outcome of this case like a hawk. Our fear is that if we agree to make up the rest of the money involved, the agents will advise their players to sign for a top club in France or England and then wait for us to buy them back when they want to play for the Springboks. We would be mad to agree to that. We just can’t afford it.”…

Good on ya SARFU, wish NZRU had them selves the same hairy clankers ! 

Have you started a blog yet, to vent your spleen, while your game is getting flushed down the outside dunny. Rise up, protest, sing out loud, do something!

The latest headline is that Super Rugby will be re vamped, maybe as early as 2009. Broadcasters say that viewing numbers are falling, SANZAR must re jig the competition to keep players at home and to spark more interest for the fans and players. (Source : rugbyheaven.com.au)

Why the rush for change, why by 2009. Why not take more time to research, plan,  explain and sell the changes to the fan base. Are the fans deserting the game in droves because there love for the game has diminished, is this the reason or is it because the administrators have completely stuffed up. By over paying players (ARU), by resting players (NZRFU), allowing second rate players to be selected (SAFRU to boost the black player profile), or have unions miss managed there affairs producing financial losses (Yr 2007 results: ARU -$7 mil, NZFRU -$1.7 mil).

Playing viewing numbers should not be expected to sky rocket every year, remember the viewer has economic boundaries and an attention span that can only support so much rugby in a calendar year. So I put the forward the notion that the demand for the change in super rugby is not fan demand lead, it is administrator incompetence lead.

So what can the pandora box of a new re vamp super rugby competition be leading the fan into, god only knows, but rest assured fan, you are in good hands as the new plan has been well researched and thought out, all will be well (not) ! See more on performance of NZRFU and ARU in this post.

Do we really want Auckland to be a fruit salad of players (ooops it is now) from many different countries of origin? Do we really want to see the Western Force sign all the players from Christchurch boys high school 1st 15 with the promise of massive salaries?  (Ok maybe not in year one, but these new super rugby rules will be the yellow brick road for these changes !).

There may be a serious economic slowdown around the corner and the business of rugby will not escape a consumer lead recession.  So SANZAR priority must be to develop the quality of the product to ensure its survival. I get the real feeling that a lot of the super rugby changes will be throw of the dice and hope ! The fan is at the mercy of the pinheads running the game.

Some much needed guidelines for the Rugby Administrator:

1) See post on this blog, Win back the Fans. I have just read and article by Paul Lewis: NZRU in need of outside help to revitalise game , here there is no mention of the ELVs, I would estimate that the ELVs and the Checkers vs Chess posts cover at least 60% of the problem. Another article by Richard Loe: Tough encounter guide to All Blacks stating that the Blues vs Crusaders super rugby game on 25-4-08 was the ‘best game of the season’, and I thought that if this game was the RWC final it would be a massive embarrassment to world rugby  (see my review on the  ELVs post UPDATE2 at the bottom).  Where have the deep thinking philosophers of the game gone?

2) The best fan draw card is a contest between great teams, good players are secondary. Robbie Deans TV advert quote ‘A great team will always beat a great player !’ I would add a great rugby chess game within the contest is the best draw card of all.

3) Rugby fan loyalty has always been geographically based. If you are an Aucklander born and bred then Auckland will be your team. However this fan loyalty may be severely tested if the players are not Aucklanders born and bred. This is the tribe vs tribe theory. How are the Warriors doing with there 6 Aussie players, didn’t Eric Watson say he wanted to beat the Aussies at there own game (with Kiwis) ? A sound fan base is built best on the tribe theory and not the fickle ‘we won last week’ theory.

4) Get super rugby on free to view TV and or internet (Delayed, most likely).

5) Dont over charge at the stadium gate. There have been some very high ticket prices set for game’s. I think the French at the RWC 2007 did a fantastic job of getting attendance by packaging multiple games together for a single ticket.

6) Maintain national identity within super rugby teams. For the NZFRU to allow a New Zealander like ‘Dan Carter’ or ‘Jona Lomu’ to play for a non New Zealand super rugby side for $1.5 mil just so you can keep him happy and allow him to be in the national squad is opening the door for a rugby mad billionaire to come along and buy (say) the ‘Western Force’ and fill his team ‘star’ players at sky high prices. Oops the dawn of a soccer style rugby club. Then the ‘price’ of star players will have no limit. This will prove to be a major fundamental error of SANZAR. If a player wants the money then let him go, and dont allow him to be selected for international duties. The SANZAR unions must hold onto the international duties as there only valuable bargaining chip, once this is gone, they are doomed. No individual or group of players is greater than the game. So let them go! When the famed coach of the rugby league team the Broncos ‘Wayne Bennett’ had players demanding top dollar, after years of developing the young players up thru the grades, his response was ‘See ya latter!’. Yet players a like Allan Langer and Darren Lockyer never left the Broncos club for the big bucks. Loyalty, team culture and a sense of family is worth more to a player than cash. If it’s not let them go, you will never win with cash motivated player! Currently super rugby has a major fan pull of tribe vs tribe, thats Blues (tribe:NZ) vs  Brumbies (tribe:AUS), and it would be negative to see ‘Harlequins’ (tribe ?) vs ‘Badgers’ (tribe ?). It is not so much the individual match up of Dan Carter vs Stephen Bretts, its not tennis dude, it is a team (and combinations) contest.

7) Tax Break. Ok lets do the sums, NZ has about 150 professional players, lets say the player average income is $130,000 per year. That is gross revenue of $19.5 Mil, tax to the IRD at 30% equals $5.8 Mil. Lets give the players a tax rate of 15%. So thats reduced the players tax bill by 50% and the government looses $2.4 mil. But do they? If the commercial spin offs from professional rugby were to die off then the tax revenues lost from a poor performing super and international rugby season would be much greater than $2.4 mil. Would the government offer such a tax break, well the gave the Americas Cup Team $30 Mil plus, and there has been little return so far!

8) Create a SANZAR (and/or NZRFU) Official Super Rugby Internet Email Forum. An email forum where threads can be posted by the fan and answered by administrators and officials. Participation from the union CEO down to the touch judge is critical to the effectiveness of such a forum. The English RFU have such a forum were I have often seen administrators partake in ‘one on one’ fan issue discussions. This is a must have ! They are currently running a forum thread on the ELVs, good on the English RFU ! (If there is one already I cant find it !)

9) Player exodus. What benefit is it to french rugby to have a club like Toulon import so many foreign players just to get it out of the second division. This setup is purely a billionaires play thing, how does a flood of non french players improve the opportunities of french rugby players (Example, just consider the depth and experience of english soccer players for there national side). The player exodus is fueled by supplied side economics, that is the supply of money from a non central body, the control is not with a central rugby union. Therefore the central union should fight back and cap the number of foreign players per team. IRB please step up! Correct me if I am wrong, didn’t English cricket step and cap the number of foreign players for each county side.

10) This article is so important Pinetree blasts All Blacks coaches, NZRU. I bet before the day is over he will be rubbished and written off as a silly old fart and completely ignored.

This part is priceless…

The report was on the RWC 2007 failure.

“When the report was out [this month] the only one who was discredited was Richie McCaw because he didn’t instruct someone to have a dropped goal. Yet Graham Henry swears he sent down messages to them. What the bloody hell is rugby coming to? You have someone sitting in the box and trying to get a message to the captain.

“In our days we weren’t even allowed to leave the field at halftime. Once the game was on the captain was in charge and you never even heard from the coach until after the game.

“I think we’re getting over-coached and over- organised. You now have four selectors, a tackling coach, a scrum coach, a lineout coach and you have a couple of technical advisers. Now, which of those buggers do you have to listen to?”

Notice:

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