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Home / Sport

Why rugby should stick with five-point tries

Wynne Gray
By Wynne Gray
NZ Herald·
2 Sep, 2015 10:20 PM3 mins to read

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Jerome Kaino scores against Wales during the 2014 end of year tour. Photo / Getty

Jerome Kaino scores against Wales during the 2014 end of year tour. Photo / Getty

Rugby is already running itself to a standstill and starting to veer away from the ingredients which make it unique.

Now the Welsh want tries increased to six points with penalties and dropped goals reduced to two points each and will petition World Rugby to sanction the idea.

Wales think their scheme will create a more open game with the ball in play more as teams decline penalty attempts in favour of attacking ploys.

Read: Welsh rugby to trial six-point tries

This stirs several immediate reactions.

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How will Wales and other northern hemisphere teams cope with that style in conditions which are not regularly conducive to expressive rugby?

Fitness demands of the modern game have created growing numbers on the bench to cope with the aerobic demands so will this latest concept come with requests for even more reserves?

Teams already use bloated 23-man selections which let them run on subs when players are fatigued rather than injured. The game tends to lose its shape when sides start wheeling on replacements after an hour.

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Rugby is supposed to be a game for all shapes and sizes but the increasing aerobic demands are making it harder for the big men to play their roles.

Part of rugby's intrigue are the scrums and lineouts but those elements are being eroded by the rise in quick lineouts and short-arm penalties allowing teams to circumvent scrums.

A high tempo game is not always a good game just as a set-piece battle can be a dirge.

Variety in styles and plans are elements which make rugby compelling not whether 23 greyhounds can log up marathon pace during an 80-minute workout.

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Have Wales got some deep-seated grievance about some tests they would have won if tries had more value?

What about that game at Cardiff in 2004 when they lost 25-26 as Richie McCaw captained the All Blacks for the first time?

No dice, the All Blacks would have won by a greater margin as they outscored Wales three tries to two.

When the All Blacks won again by a single point 13-12 in 1978, they scored the only try and would have triumphed 12-8 under the new scoring scales.

Wales and other proponents of the six point try should take a look at their own game and the way they play. If they want more tries they should alter their mind-set and attacking ideas instead of asking for a leg-up from World Rugby.

FOUR TO FIVE

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The 1993 Rugby Almanack pointed out how the game was changed last time the try points-scoring rules were introduced - in the 1992 season when scrum rules were also changed to giving the feed to attacking sides.

"The five-point try also saw an increase in the incidence of the so called 'professional foul', which players deliberately conceding a penalty instead of a potential seven points. Both of these trends will have to be monitored in 1993," the editorial said.

Classic matches if it was under six-point try rules

2011 - Rugby World Cup final
New Zealand 8
Try: Woodcock, Pen: Donald.
France 8
Try: Dusautoir, Con: Trinh-Duc.
- Extra-time required

2003 - England's 15-13 win at Westpac Stadium
New Zealand 12
Try: Howlett. Con: Spencer. Pens: Spencer 2.
England 10
Pens: Wilkinson 4, Dropped goal: Wilkinson.
- England denied famous win

1990 - All Blacks edged Scotland 21-18 at Eden Park
New Zealand 18
Tries: Loe. Con: Fox. Pens: Fox 5
Scotland 20
Tries: Moore, Stranger. Cons: Hastings 2. Pens: Hastings 2
- Scotland secure first win over the All Blacks

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