Rugby: Rugby's identity under threat from its own rules

Rugby is resembling more of a lolly scramble and last weekend's round of the NPC emphasised the trend towards the breakdown lottery.

When the rules were changed this season, then amended again on August 1, it was expected some of the confusion at rucks and tackled ball areas would be eradicated. It has, but those breakdowns remain a blight on the sport.

At an address this week to an IRB conference in Johannesburg, chairman Vernon Pugh bemoaned the loss of rugby's character. His criticism did not go far enough.

"We are coming perilously close to following the same road as rugby league," he warned. "We are nearing the situation where all the players are almost the same size with the same job. The uniqueness of rugby union must be preserved and we must ensure that rugby remains a physically challenging and intelligent game."

If Pugh had examined why his sport was mirroring its five tackle-kick cousin he could have added some pertinent comments about the rules of rugby.

Rolling mauls are nearly obsolete, rucking is a lost and, it appears, frowned-on art, while attacking scrums have been depowered. Players scrap for the ball, then they spread out across the field in either attack or defence waiting for a break or a turnover.

There was no way Northland were going to take the Ranfurly Shield from Waikato last weekend but in the crucial first half, the holders seemed to have a massive licence to play the ball on the ground with their hands. Otherwise how did Waikato get their turnovers with rucking consigned to the scrapheap because of the lawmakers and overzealous officials?

In any number of games you see a swarm of competitors digging with their hands over a tackled player for the ball.

When a defender chases back and dives on a ball, the attacking players are forbidden from jumping on him to try to wrench the ball clear.

Neither scenario makes sense nor do those single gridiron cleanouts which still appear in the NPC despite their ban from August 1.

If Pugh wants to complain about twin lines of players squaring off against each other and undermining an "intelligent game" then he and his global administrators should work on how to get forwards doing what they used to do and leave the backs to their own space.

If tackled players had to release the ball immediately rather than ease it slowly out of their armpits or through their legs and the tackled player and tackler were both eliminated from that play, if rolling mauls were allowed to continue until expiry, including being dragged down legitimately, then forwards would be encouraged to hit rucks and mauls like they used to.

Forget the use-it-or-lose-it nonsense. If a team is good enough to have possession then let them organise what they want to do with it instead of getting the referee's forfeit ruling.

Allow scrums to wheel or shunt others into submission. Decently done, it is more fascinating than the hit-up and tackle routines of today.

Implement these types of changes and some of the straightline clutter would be reduced.

This is no call for the stodgy 10-man rugby which used to bedevil the game, nor a plea for props to just push in scrums.

The game was invented after William Webb Ellis picked up the ball and ran with it.

The modern rugby player is a multi-skilled athlete with all the talent to achieve that, it is just the rules are getting in the way.