Rugby Union

The British and Irish Lions tour is a massive event on Australian sporting calendars. The once every twelve year cycle of the tour and parochial support the Lions drag across the pond make it a memorable occasion for all involved.

For as special as the Tour is though, it can’t get away from one undeniable fact, out on the field they play Rugby Union. No matter the quality of the contest you just can’t shake the disappointment that comes with watching the 80 minute penalty shootout that Rugby has become.

For me Australia’s loss on Saturday night sums up the game. Down by 5 points with ten minutes to go and you get a penalty, what do you do? You take a shot at penalty goal of course so you only lose by two points. Can you imagine a Rugby League team down by three points with ten minutes to go, taking the two points on offer? Not in a million years.

In the aftermath of the game all people wanted to talk about was Kurtley Beale’s slip as he attempted a subsequent penalty and not the complete lack of attacking ambition exhibited by either side in the final ten minutes. Granted I only watched the final fifteen minutes but if you have a Rugby League winger out on the field, think Sailor, Tuqiri and now Folau, the Rah Rahs would be well advised to actually give them the ball. Apparently Folau breezed across the line for two tries against the Lions but in the final fifteen minutes he didn’t touch the ball once. In fact he didn’t even come into screen.

Rugby Union’s superstar Brat Pack, Berrick Barnes, James O’Connor, Kurtley Beale and Quade Cooper I’m looking at you, need to understand one thing for Australia to claw back the Lions series from a game down. While you would all make super NSW or QLD Cup players Israel Folau made his name in the NRL and in State of Origin. Even after a two year working holiday the foundations of Folau’s Rugby League development mean that he is head and shoulders above his new peers in attack and defence.

Berrick Barnes in fact was a QLD Cup player before moving across to Union and finding himself at fly-half in a World Cup twelve months later. Barnes stretchered off again on Saturday night is seemingly knocked out in every collision, making his code swap fortuitous, as at times he has gone months on end without meeting the medicab in Rugby Union.

The sad thing is Rugby Union could be a great game, entertaining even, if it just made a few changes to the structure of the game. For starters people want to watch Rugby so I would reduce the points awarded for penalty goals. Why should you get more points for a penalty then a conversion? Make them all two points. Two field goals should not be worth more points than a try nor should they be worth more than conversion or penalty, so a reduction to one point seems in order. Five point tries are an unnecessary reward and should be reduced to four. This change brings the scoring into clean even numbers increasing the significance of a one point field goal in deciding close encounters.

Away from the scoring side of things there are just too many players on the field. Unless Rugby Union are confident they can re-size stadiums around the world it might be best to reduce the number of players from 15 to say 13, losing the breakaways from the scrum and creating a bit more space for the contest with the ball in hand, which at the end of the day is what people enjoy watching.

Of course there’s already a game like that. Over a century ago, the league split from the union and ever since has constantly sought to evolve and refine the game being played out on the field. 

All that time ago league sought the money of fans and sponsors to fairly renumerate its players and that’s why right now we have two such different games being played at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane five days apart to packed houses. I know which I’ll enjoy watching, what about you?