Readers voice strong views on state of rugby

Then and now: Your Views readers aren't sure things have got better.

Readers have responded to nzherald.co.nz's State of Rugby series with some strongly worded comments about our national game.

The series canvassed opinions on New Zealand's national game from top administrators, media commentators and ex-players.

It also includes a series of exclusive poll results on issues such as whether the Super 14 begins too early, and whether rugby going professional has been good for the game.

This last point of contention has drawn some of the most strongly-worded responses on our Your Views pages, the majority of readers saying they believe there has been a decline in the quality of rugby, especially Super 14, since the development of the professional game.

Comments included:
"Any sport that changes its rules every year is in trouble. A sport which has rules that no one understands has trouble. And a sport which changes the rules this year to "make the game more attractive" is seriously in trouble."
– Digby (Taurangaruru)

"I have come to a point where I believe the rules to be too complex, too open to referee interpretation and too determined by the kicking of penalties which at 3 points a go seem out of proportion to the breaches of often technical infringements."
– Michael (Auckland)

"The game needs to be revamped to eliminate time wastage, such as the continuous resetting of scrums. Compared to the NRL in Australia, the game is to 'stop-start' and does not flow."
– Joe (Australia)

Readers have not been hesitant in suggesting who or what has been responsible for these problems:

"I've felt for a long while there is simply too much of a watered-down product, and there is an over exposure of it. Less is definitely more in terms of quality and in exposure in my opinion."
– Bruce (Wellington)

"I think the Rugby Union is not doing much for the game as a whole by axing the lower competitions. They are certainly going the right way about killing women's rugby by axing the Women's NPC competition."
– Mary (NZ)

"SANZAR's pursuit of broadcast revenue has been at the expense of rugby's traditional values. SANZAR is now a noose around rugby's neck."
– Katipo (New South Wales)

"NZ rugby got into trouble when professionalism spawned a plethora of competitions and encroached into summer."
– Jona (Katikati)

While readers' comments were overwhelmingly critical of the recent standard of rugby in the professional era, the DigiPoll commissioned by nzherald.co.nz returned a different result.

The poll asked 600 people if they thought rugby turning professional has been good for the game in New Zealand. Over 62 per cent of people said "yes", while 30 per cent said "no" and 7.4 per cent did not know or refused to answer.

- NZ HERALD STAFF