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Heather du Plessis-Allan: New rugby rules necessary to give the game pace

Author
Heather du Plessis-Allan,
Publish Date
Wed, 10 Feb 2021, 4:19PM
(Photo / Photosport)
(Photo / Photosport)

Heather du Plessis-Allan: New rugby rules necessary to give the game pace

Author
Heather du Plessis-Allan,
Publish Date
Wed, 10 Feb 2021, 4:19PM

If you’ve taken a look at the new rules for Super Rugby Aotearoa and thought they’re just copying rugby league, you’re right - and good on them for doing it.

The rugby bosses are making no pretence of doing anything other than copying NRL. They’ve outright admitted it,

So if you haven’t caught up on it, we’ve got two rule changes for this year’s competition: 

The first is a captain’s referral.  So for the first 75 minutes of a game, a team captain will be able to ask the ref to check any play in the lead up to a try.  For the last five minutes of a game, the captain can refer anything he or she likes, try or not. 

If the captain is right, they retain the referral to use it again.  If they’re wrong, they lose it.  Straight copy from league, right? 

Second change is the goal line drop out. So for example, instead of having a five metre scrum if a player is held up or there’s been a knock on in-goal, you’ll have a kick from the goal line. Straight copy from league again? 

This is good stuff.  This is what rugby needs.  The game needs to pace up.  It’s being outdone by NRL on this score.

As much you or I love rugby, you have to admit it is dull watching scrums set and reset, and I’m wondering if the only people who love watching scrums are former players who once engaged in the scrum, because for the rest of us it’s just not that compelling watching the back of players’ rugby jerseys. 

And this is what the goal line drop out rule will do. The idea is that it will encourage more attacking kicking in the 22 and less of the pick and drive stuff.

I like the captain’s referral too.  I’m hoping it’ll weed out a few of those calls that change a game – wrongly – and leave us feeling pretty grumpy for decades sometimes. 

Anyway, nicking ideas for league shouldn’t come as a surprise.  It’s been well-signalled. 

Last year both New Zealand Rugby and Rugby Australia nicked the 20 minute red card rule so you don’t end up with an entire game of 15 vs 14, and the extra time rule so one of the teams have to win, you can’t have draws.   

This year, NZR is just going further.

There’s no harm in making this a faster game.  All the codes are competing for audiences. And audiences want pace.  And if that’s what they want, rugby has to give it to them. 

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