Red cards and head injuries – the problems mount up
This matter is so serious that I hardly dare broach it. World Rugby and national unions face the prospect of a legal case that could have the direst effects on their future.
Meantime, WR is proposing to adjust responses to a red card. In certain circumstances, a player sent from the field could be replaced with another after 20 minutes. Now both the French and Irish unions have come out firmly against any such relaxation. The law-change is due for the (men’s northern hemisphere’s) autumn internationals.
Sadly the number of cards awarded shows no sign of decreasing, though that must have been the intent from the outset. Rather the reverse. The reaction from every authority and every commentator is ‘health and safety must come first’. At some stage it looks as though a law-court will decide whether they really do.
The Red Roses’ successes bring their own difficulties
Keeping all England’s hopefuls happy: nearly 50 players attended the summer training sessions. Now most of them have only the PWR to look forward to. There are no England ‘A’ games at present; a rebirth seems desirable. The PWR UP series and the first two rounds of PWR proper showed the depth of talent available.
It’s normal for players to retire post-World Cup. In the current situation it may open a gap or two in selections. The back-row reveals the competition: not long ago Maisy Allen was flavour of the month; she found favour as Sadia Kabeya suffered an injury. But now we have Maddie Feaunati taking the 6 shirt, with Georgia Brock and Morwenna Talling competing too.
With ten months till a World Cup, there’s limited scope for more experiments; just five Six Nations matches and any extra tests the RFU can fit in.
How poor is the RFU?
A chain of thoughts: Sue Day’s dire warnings during Covid – she estimated losses mounting to millions; the renaming of HQ; how far will the Allianz money spread? – more than one coat of paint for the stadium? Can the RFU maintain its levels of support for its elite teams (contracts, etc)? It has taken a carving knife to its staff, and the survivors have their hands full preparing for a World Cup.
Day is no longer in office there.
A single training base for England’s men and women?
RFU must be weighing income against costs of paying for a new site and developing it. I once wrote about the singular contrast between England and France: England with a prime stadium but no training base; France with a prime training base (at Marcoussis), but no stadium.
An Inch or a Mile?
It’s strange how different attitudes to distance prevail within the game. A try may be awarded after the TMO confirms a part of the ball was grounded just touching the line. By contrast, you can let me know where I can see a penalty kick to touch being taken from the mark. Most kickers use the mark as the starting point for their run-up to the launch, thereby adding far more than that fraction of a millimetre needed to score a match-winning try. For proof, study any England No 10 of recent years.
The same goes for kick-offs. The ball has to cross the 10-metre line (with exceptions). But when the ball is launched a metre or more into the opponents’ half, it needs to travel much less far. Who cares? Who notices?
Straight or crook?
A parallel point that causes rugby fans to growl: a line-out throw has to be arrow-straight. Indeed, the term ‘darts’ is often used these days. Contrast the put-in to the scrum: the Laws have been adjusted to clarify what is legal and illegal. But scrum-halves now stand to insert the ball facing the second (or back) row! And they are all as innocent as driven snow.
Moving abroad
The pattern of ambitious players moving abroad to advance their careers continues unabated. For the nations involved this is a doubtful profit. In the women’s game the main targets are England, France and Japan. But every player who joins the PWR from Canada, Italy, Japan. South Africa, Spain or USA automatically weakens the home nation’s internal competitions.
The effect on the two welcoming nations is less profound, but every NEQP (Non-England Qualified Player) who plays in a PWR match denies an EQP from playing. The same goes for the French Elite 1, where the best Francophone Canadian players are welcomed.
There is money to be made in Japan, as the exodus of leading All Blacks flying north proves. But it isn’t helping Japanese players to advance their cause. The Sakura’s winless record in the WXV helps to prove the point.
It’s a tricky subject: there is a strong case on both sides, not least the right of everyone to play where they want to.
