Have your say: Rule changes you would love to see in sport

Last week, we published a series on rule changes we’d like to see in the sports we love. Now we want to hear from you – fill out the form below to tell us how you’d like to see our sporting codes revised. We’ll publish the most interesting suggestions later this week.

Here’s our complete list:

Rugby: Bring back rucking

Proposed change: Revise rugby’s rulebook to allow rucking bodies out of the way of the ball.

In the old days, rugby players would use their feet to push opposition players (and occasionally a stray teammate) away from the ball in a ruck. This was crucial for providing fast ball for your halfback.

Around the time the game went (openly) professional, officials moved to ban old-fashioned rucking.

Rucking made rugby better. It speeds the game up, leading to opportunities for lighter, faster more skilful rugby players. A fast ruck would also make it difficult for defences to get set so early and so well, therefore, reducing the massive impacts we have now and the awful head injuries that follow.

Yes, I’m old. – Paul Moor

Former All Blacks captain Richie McCaw reveals a souvenir from an old-fashioned ruck. Photo / Photosport

League: Ditch the golden point

Proposed change: Get rid of the NRL’s golden-point rule in regular season.

Golden point is the sugar hit that no one needs anymore. It’s probably something we never needed, as there is not a lot wrong with a draw anyway. There are two obvious problems with the added time period, which was introduced by the NRL in 2003

First, it creates an artificial spectacle that doesn’t resemble the rest of the contest. It often descends into a field-goal shootout, while referees became reluctant to give penalties or six-agains – knowing the consequences, which means teams get away with a lot more.

The second issue is that it is unfair and unjust, as a team that loses an extra-time battle gets the same for their efforts as a club that has been smashed 42-0.

Draws at 80 minutes used to be great spectacles and it’s time to revert back to that, with golden-point saved for post-season knockout games. – Michael Burgess

Cycling: Say ‘au revoir’ to TDF ceremonial finishes

Proposed change: Set a time trial, or lengthen the final stage, to intensify the denouement for cycling’s greatest race.

Granted, the romance of the occasion on the last day of the Tour de France is enshrined in tradition as riders often pedal the streets of Paris with a flute of champagne in hand.

This joie de vivre needs puncturing. Yes, they’re always more than 3000km into their French odyssey and a glass of plonk has probably been earned, but wait until you cross the Champs-Elysees finish line before popping a cork.

Let’s keep the tactical and strategic battles coming instead. The 1989 example where Greg LeMond defeated Laurent Fignon by 8s to earn the yellow jersey after gaining 58s on the final time trial remains enshrined as Le Tour’s closest finish.

A tight scenario won’t always emerge, given the race winner is sometimes already beyond doubt, but earnest attempts could make enthralling viewing rather than being deemed dodgy etiquette.

Tour de France riders not racing through the streets of Paris. Photo / Photosport

Cricket: Over rates punishable by penalty runs

Proposed change: Coming up short of the daily quota of overs bowled will be penalised with additional runs

Following on (cricket pun) from the above, instead of the minuscule fines that are imposed on players, hit them where it really hurts – on the scoreboard. If the run rate for the day was 3.5 runs per over and the bowling side were short by six overs then calculate that (3.5 x 6 = 21 runs) and add it to the final total as penalty runs. If a side loses by a handful of runs then they will rue not bowling the overs they are obligated to. It will also provide a fillip for sides to get through their overs and not take up excess time with changes of gloves or water breaks. – Jack Ward

F1: Going off track

Proposed change: No more track limits.

Formula One’s rules around track limits are too strict and punish the aggressive driving that fans love to see. Penalties for driving outside track limits should only be enforced if a clear advantage is gained – in effect, when a driver is cheating.

Penalising drivers for being a millimetre over the white line at 300km/h and gaining nothing is nonsense. I want to see drivers pushing the limit and at times exceeding it, without fear of a 10s penalty. – Paul Slater

Many Formula One fans want to see Liam Lawson and his peers pushing the limit and at times exceeding it. Photo / Red Bull

Cricket: Pinch hitter

Proposed change: Designated batters for T20.

T20 is all about big hits and fast play, and right now there aren’t too many changes to the rules of the game that can increase either of these.

But if players were allowed to specialise this could create more high-quality play with the bat and the ball.

A designated batter would allow one player on a team to focus solely on scoring runs. They wouldn’t be allowed to field; their job is solely to hit big. Every team could end up having much more depth in their batting order. It may also bolster the bowling because a designated bowler could be introduced if the designated batter isn’t allowed to field.

More big hits, more big wickets – that’s all we want to see in cricket’s fastest format. – Samuel Sherry

Baseball: Fear factor

Proposed change: Limit how many intentional walks a team can use in Major League Baseball games

MLB almost got things right. Almost. Before the 2017 season, they brought in a rule that meant managers could just signal the umpire to put an opposing hitter on base. It sped things up, eliminating the need for a pitcher to waste four pitches on throws well outside the zone.

But no one wants to see this managerial tool leave the chest too often. Ask anyone who sat through all 18 innings of game three in the World Series between the LA Dodgers and Toronto Blue Jays when Shohei Ohtani – the best player in baseball – was intentionally walked four times in a row.

I don’t want it out of the game completely, I just want to see less of it and make managers back their pitchers. A cap on how many times an intentional walk can be granted will mean fans get more opportunities to see the best players in the game operating in clutch moments, and/or make the strategy associated with the decision all the more important. We will call it the Ohtani Rule. – Christopher Reive

Shohei Ohtani, of the Los Angeles Dodgers, is quite good at baseball. Photo / Getty Image

Cricket: Pump down the volume

Proposed change: When a fielding team’s appeal for a wicket reaches a certain pitch of volume, they are deemed to have automatically called for a review of the umpire’s decision.

Cricket has just about got the whole technology thing right, particularly with the review system, which allows players to use their initiative and understanding of the game to find the best decisions.

Yet few things are more tedious than seeing a fielding team appealing to the high heavens – howling like banshees with their faces distorted in fervour at the apparent injustice of the umpire ignoring their claim of a wicket – only for them to then not elect to take a review. Come on, guys, a moment ago you were certain it was out, but when the heat’s on, you’re not?

Prolonged exposure to anything 85dB and above can lead to permanent hearing loss. So let’s make that the point at which the fielding team has automatically sparked one of their reviews. The sight of agitated captains rushing in to shush indignant bowlers will be worth the price of entry. – Winston Aldworth

Rugby: Drop the drop kick

Proposed change: Only the first drop goal by a rugby team is worth three points, the next is two points, and from there on, only one point.

Flowing, side-to-side rugby is entertaining – dives for the corner, steps inside on the wing. It’s beautiful when the forwards pile over on the 15th phase, turning the previous few minutes of grafting into five, hopefully seven, points.

This is eliminated by a 30m drop goal, which shows a lack of belief in breaking down the opposition and is a cop-out to guarantee points.

The drop goal progressively losing value keeps it vaulted to be used only in dire need. Time’s run out, field’s too muddy, the ball’s slippery and you need points to win; fine, have a crack.

This rule ensures ethical points stay prominent, and turns the in-play three-pointer back into a once-in-a-blue-moon – or at the very worst, once-in-a-game – occurrence. If sides are happy with a pair of points, or one extra, similar to rugby league, then they can go for it.

Some might enjoy games with multiple drop goals – like George Ford’s effort against Argentina for England at the 2023 Rugby World Cup – but the average fan, looking for physical, ball-running footy, doesn’t. – Coby Moratti

Ice hockey: Greenland v Iceland

Proposed change: Turn the ice green to chill spectators.

Ice hockey is not only the greatest and hardest sport to play in the history of sports it’s also the most difficult to watch. The bright, white ice is punishing for the eyes and creates an uneasy and almost agitative experience for the fan watching on television.

TVs these days broadcast in super-mega-ultra HD and you can come away from watching a hockey game feeling like Malcolm McDowell in A Clockwork Orange.

What is one of the most soothing colours for the eyes? Green. Deep. Lush. Green. So why does the ice have to be bright, punishing white? It could be a much more palatable and aurally pleasing green. Some may argue it’s hard enough to see the black puck on the contrasting white ice already. So won’t green make it worse? Potentially, but it would be a far more relaxing watch. – Jo Durie

Cricket: Wide of the mark

Proposed change: A ball that is bowled wide becomes a no ball.

In cricket, bowlers – quite sensibly – want to bowl deliveries that batters can’t hit for runs. So, they will bowl as close to the wide line as possible. If they get it wrong they bowl a wide, conceding a run and being forced to bowl the delivery again.

Spectators want to see runs scored and wickets taken, so bowlers should be further disincentivised from bowling wide of the wickets by having the delivery deemed a no ball. This would add a free hit on the next delivery, as well as bowling the extra ball and conceding a run. – Winston Aldworth

ICC umpire Sharfuddoula signals a wide on the bowling of Australia's Ellyse Perry. Photo / Photosport

Rugby: Scrum time? Stop the clock!

Proposed change: During a scrum the clock is off until the ball is out

A plethora of scrum resets and binds not properly to the referee’s liking are the bane of any rugby fan, especially when it is time taken out of the game. When a scrum is called, the referee stops the match clock and only restarts it when the ball is in the back of the scrum and the halfback has their hands on it.

With more ball in play, for the viewer (and broadcasters) it will create more entertainment and less waning of action. For the players, they have more time to exhibit their skills at a time when more fans are looking at rugby league as an option to consume their watching time because of the non-stop action and heightened ball-in-play time. – Jack Ward

Tennis: Let it go

Proposed change: Abolish the “let” rule for serving in tennis.

Imagine being so good at tennis that you can hit the ball from the baseline and have it brush the top of the net, fall inside the bounds of play and be unreachable by your opponent. And then imagine having a rule in the game that prohibits you from scoring with such an audacious shot.

The “let” rule is some polite nonsense from tennis’ high-society origins. Imagine a footballer banging in a left-footed screamer that beats the keeper from 25m out, only to have the strike disallowed because it clipped the post on the way in.

We should encourage serves that are as close to the net as possible, they increase jeopardy for both players and make the game a better spectacle. – Winston Aldworth

Venus Williams on serve, the rules of which we think need a tweak. Photo / NZ Herald

Cricket: Sun’s shining, play on

Proposed change: If there are still overs to bowl after the extra half hour has finished, finish the allotted 90-over requirement.

Summer is when the sun is out longer so why, when over rates have been slow, the extra half hour has been used but there are still overs left in the day, do players leave the field despite the sun still being an hour and half to two hours away from setting? Play until the 90 overs have been bowled.

For the fans and broadcasters who supplement players’ wages, it sours the feeling of not getting maximum out of the day’s play. – Jack Ward

League: Try again

Proposed change: Eight-point tries to replace two-point conversions in league.

Although some people might enjoy watching players attempt conversions after a try, I’m sure there are plenty more people who would like to see more action from open play.

This is where the eight-point try would come in – instead of a standard kick at goal, teams could opt to score another try on a three-tackle set starting at the 10.

Although it could mean bad teams being completely blown out, it would also mean teams down by two or three tries could keep themselves in games and maintain that feeling of jeopardy until the final whistle. – Samuel Sherry

Jackson Ford crosses the line for the Warriors in the NRL. Photo / Photosport

Rugby: Statement of intent

Proposed change: Remove “deliberate knock-on” from rugby.

In the legal system, many cases are won and lost by the fact it’s hard to prove whether or not someone intended to do something.

In rugby, though, officials can somehow prove, based solely on a few television replays, that defenders have “deliberately” knocked the ball down when attempting to intercept.

Think back to Aaron Smith’s yellow card in the World Cup quarter-final against Ireland. Was his act clumsy? Yes. Was it deliberate? Absolutely not.

As the game gets faster and defensive lines get higher, all that will happen is World Rugby will officiate interceptions out of the game.

And for a team like the All Blacks, who pride themselves on the ability to counter-attack, getting rid of the deliberate – for want of a better word, and law – knock on is an absolute must. – Alex Powell

It's time to revisit the rules of the sports we love. Artist / Paul Slater

Football: Offside has gotten offside

Proposed change: Reset the offside settings so that any part of the attacker’s body being onside means a goal will stand.

Football’s offside rule is no longer fit for purpose. It was designed to prevent goal hanging – a striker lurking in the penalty area for the entire match – and has been a great innovation over more than a century.

However, it was not designed to rule out perfectly good goals because someone’s shoulder, knee or toenail is ahead of the last defender. Goal scoring is the most difficult task in the modern game and the VAR offside interpretation has made it even worse.

There is nothing more deflating than seeing a spectacular goal scratched after a forensic check, involving millimetres and taking minutes. The balance needs to be tipped; if any part of the attacker’s body is onside, apart from hands or arms, it should be a legal goal. – Michael Burgess

Rugby: Out of the box

Proposed change: Rugby players can call “mark” for a fair catch anywhere in their own half.

The halfbacks’ box kick has become one of the most dire things in rugby. The game is at its best when players create and exploit space by running and passing the ball. The ubiquitous tactic of box kicking from almost anywhere on the park in order to set up a 50/50 lottery for possession a few metres further up the field is a guileless admission of a lack of ideas.

We should encourage teams to use the ball in a constructive fashion by punishing them for dull-witted kicks.

So, if a player catches an opposition kick on the full in their own half, they should be able to call a mark for a free kick.

There’s a nuclear option for this rule change: let players take fair catch marks anywhere on the field. And, once they’ve taken the mark, they get the throw-in from the resulting lineout if they kick the ball out, or knock over a droppie (like in the good old days). – Winston Aldworth

All Blacks halfback Finlay Christie gets in the box against the Boks. Photo / Photosport

Football: Celebrate good times

Proposed change: No yellow cards for footballers going into the crowd.

There is nothing greater in professional sport than footballers celebrating a goal. Being packed in with thousands of other like-minded fans as the ball hits the back of the net is euphoric, with football fans forking out thousands to follow their team week in, week out.

And yet, should the player want to celebrate that goal with said fans, he’s punished with a yellow card.

The reasons for the rule have always been along the lines of fan and player safety, as well as time-wasting and disorder that security would be unable to control.

But would fans of a team really attack one of their own players after a goal? No. And considering football is now adding more time on to the end of matches than ever before, anything lost would already be made up if delayed by excessive celebrations.

All that’s really happening is stopping players from celebrating with fans who for the most part pay their wages. – Alex Powell

Society falls to pieces as Real Madrid's Vinicius Junior celebrates with fans after winning the Champions League. Photo / Photosport

Cricket: What time’s tea?

Proposed change: Session breaks in test cricket both 30 minutes.

This never made sense to me. Two hours of play for the opening session in a cricket test, followed by a lunch break of 40 minutes. Do the players need that long a break so early in the day? Especially when just under half the players may not enter the field over that time, with their feet up in the pavilion. The players don’t need 40 minutes and neither do the fans in attendance or the viewers.

Then later in the day the tea break is 20 minutes. Substitute fielders now often give bowlers a chance to leave the field after a spell so the only player out in the middle doing the long stints is the wicketkeeper – and they choose that life.

So let’s make it simpler – 30 minutes in between each session. Morning session 11am-1pm, second session 1.30-3.30pm with the final session 4pm-6pm. Drinks breaks at midday, 2.30pm and 5pm.

And while we’re making changes to cricket, let’s make it that if batters run five – a very rare occurrence – they get an extra run to make it worth six. – Cameron McMillan

The Black Caps brace themselves for the tea break against England at the Basin Reserve in Wellington. Photo / Photosport

Rugby: End the endless advantage

Proposed change: Instate a limit to the advantage rule in rugby union.

God, this is annoying in the XV-a-side code. The referee (or, Allah forbid, the TMO) notes a penalty infringement of some sort. The official then allows play to go on as long as the attacking team has the ball and are doing something with it. Honestly, this can take minutes.

Then the ref blows it up anyway when the attacking team has failed to do anything. In the beautiful game (and this stupid rule is one of the things preventing rugby from ever getting close to football for watchability in my very unbiased opinion), the advantage for a foul is one play. One play. The ref will then come back to yellow-card the offender later on, when play has stopped, should it be required.

Rugby needs to define the advantage: make it a 5m gain, or 20s, or something. Anything. Please. And don’t get me started on scrums... – Richard Wain

Rugby's advantage rule deserves a red card. Artist / Paul Slater

Reviewing the reviews

Proposed change: Get rid of the TMO.

Football, rugby and league need to get rid of the third match official. I’m not talking about merely limiting the TMO’s power, but just get rid of the thing completely. They actually make the game worse.

If players are allowed to make errors and “it’s just part of the game” then why can’t officials? Erroneous calls are part of the rich tapestry of sport – the Bob Deans try/no try on the Originals’ tour in 1905; the Geoff Hurst goal/no goal in the 1966 World Cup final; Kevin Skinner sorting out the Boks on the 1956 tour. None of those legendary things would have happened with a TMO. Grow up, accept the ruling and move on – and make the eyebrow-raising event part of the legend of the game. Grow the story of the sport. – Paul Moor

Cricket: French kiss

Proposed change: French cuts should be worth six runs.

Taking a leaf out of Cricket Max, some shots are more impressive than others and should be rewarded accordingly. The French cut requires a level of touch some of the greatest batters never find. And so I propose, a French cut that runs away to the boundary should be worth six runs rather than four.

I will now be taking questions.

Is there actual skill involved?

Have you tried to successfully inside edge the ball past the stumps? And have you mastered it? Of course you haven’t because it requires a massive degree of skill.

Won’t this frustrate bowlers?

Yes.

Are you sure this doesn’t just reward blind luck?

Are you telling me, any time you see the French cut deployed, these elite players are relying on luck. Years of training and hard work all for just a bit of luck? I think not.

This doesn’t make any sense.

Not a question, moving on.

Among everything else that needs addressing in cricket, is this really the best place to put your energy?

Will this make the game more entertaining? Yes. Will this create another wrinkle for players to have to consider? Yes. So therefore, this improves the game, and anything that improves the game should be welcomed. – Andy McDonnell

Cricket's rules could do with a review. Artist / Paul Slater