Rugby Union and Rugby League: The Quest to Entertain (November 2010)
"The times they are a changing". So run the lines of the old song and in both rugby union and rugby league the same appears to be happening to both games without any apparent awareness on the part of many who play or watch both codes. Indeed, accidentally, and thanks to the all embracing professionalism of both sports which demands that the spectators are entertained more than the players, rugby union and rugby league appear to be coming closer and closer together on the pitch. And not always for the best outcome.
Note the statistical analysis provided by the International Rugby Board of the recent Tri Nations matches between New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa and the differences in the play of those three sides to that of twenty five years ago. According to the analysis, the ball is in play 50% longer, passing is up 400%, kicks and scrums in each game are down 50%,and lineouts have been reduced by 58%.And the results? Well, 57 tries were scored in this year's tournament compared to 27 tries last year. So far so good.
Though there is no statistical analysis to hand regarding the state of play in rugby league the use of two referees at the Play the Ball area in Australia in NRL matches (abominable practice!) and the speeding up of play and the tightening up of the tackle rules around the area in the British and French Leagues now means that players like St.Helens' James Roby, Wigan's Thomas Leuluai, and Leeds' Rob Burrow are, because of the new interpretations of the rules , forever darting away from the acting half back position to the detriment of any attacking opportunities out wide. Spectators at any league game now see far more running in attacking positions from a hooker or scrum half from the Play the Ball than the centres or the wingers. An unsatisfactory state of affairs surely? But what of all the changes in rugby union noted by the IRB and which bring the two codes much more together on the field?
The most interesting statistic from last season's Rugby Union Tri Nations event Down Under is the fact that the rucks and the mauls, the 15 a side code's equivalent of the Play the Ball in League, have increased by 400 per cent. In essence, then, all attempts at speeding up the play in handling and passing the ball in both games have increased the emphasis on the breakdown and restart in play, which can be the two most boring aspects of both games and which provide for the most penalties, rightly or wrongly, in both codes. Attempts at speeding up most games have not necessarily provided for better and more open rugby with the ball finding its way to speedy wings, tricky centres, and evasive full backs as in days of yore. Speeding up a game, rather than encouraging slower play in certain areas, does not necessarily provide for a better or more entertaining game. Whatever the code!
Ray French
Note the statistical analysis provided by the International Rugby Board of the recent Tri Nations matches between New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa and the differences in the play of those three sides to that of twenty five years ago. According to the analysis, the ball is in play 50% longer, passing is up 400%, kicks and scrums in each game are down 50%,and lineouts have been reduced by 58%.And the results? Well, 57 tries were scored in this year's tournament compared to 27 tries last year. So far so good.
Though there is no statistical analysis to hand regarding the state of play in rugby league the use of two referees at the Play the Ball area in Australia in NRL matches (abominable practice!) and the speeding up of play and the tightening up of the tackle rules around the area in the British and French Leagues now means that players like St.Helens' James Roby, Wigan's Thomas Leuluai, and Leeds' Rob Burrow are, because of the new interpretations of the rules , forever darting away from the acting half back position to the detriment of any attacking opportunities out wide. Spectators at any league game now see far more running in attacking positions from a hooker or scrum half from the Play the Ball than the centres or the wingers. An unsatisfactory state of affairs surely? But what of all the changes in rugby union noted by the IRB and which bring the two codes much more together on the field?
The most interesting statistic from last season's Rugby Union Tri Nations event Down Under is the fact that the rucks and the mauls, the 15 a side code's equivalent of the Play the Ball in League, have increased by 400 per cent. In essence, then, all attempts at speeding up the play in handling and passing the ball in both games have increased the emphasis on the breakdown and restart in play, which can be the two most boring aspects of both games and which provide for the most penalties, rightly or wrongly, in both codes. Attempts at speeding up most games have not necessarily provided for better and more open rugby with the ball finding its way to speedy wings, tricky centres, and evasive full backs as in days of yore. Speeding up a game, rather than encouraging slower play in certain areas, does not necessarily provide for a better or more entertaining game. Whatever the code!
Ray French