Sirius Data

Rugby. What is it doing to itself at the moment! The administrators need to take a hard look at themselves & simplify the game. It used to always hold the higher ground against football in terms of morality & leading the way on refereeing, lack of crowd trouble, new regulations, using technology etc. However, the game is becoming so complicated & overly technical that you hardly see a proper scrum take place anymore & as for this endless kicking the ball from one end to the other hoping to gain territory & for the opposition to make a mistake is soooooo Dull!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Plus, more & more football copycat play acting is beginning to creep into Rugby in the pro era- perfect example of this was when an opposition player motioned his head towards Gloucester Hooker/Prop Olivier Azzam he went down like a sack of potatoes. The following week he cracked heads accidentally with another player & left the opposition player poleaxed, but continued playing on as if nothing had happened. Another good example of this behavior is when a three quarter kicks the ball into the opposing half & chases his kick & “looks’ for a penalty for either blocking by an opposing player or falls over at the slightest touch. That player should be sin binned immediately! Too much back-chat to referees as well is creeping in. And why does it sometimes take an age for a video ref to make a decision when in many cases it is blindingly obvious what the decision should be. Some simple changes and some stamping of authority by the administrators would make the game a hell of a lot more fast flowing & better viewing. This lack of scrummaging & punting malarkey is ruining the direction of the game. Plus, I really hope we do not get to the situation where the club game becomes more important than the national team like winning the Champions League seems more important in Football than winning an international against Brazil or Germany. Lastly, it seems ludicrous to me you can have a player who has played international rugby for New Zealand and then be allowed to play through residency for England or Italy etc. I personally believe the rules should be tightened up in sport generally & you only qualify for an international team through the country of birthright or via the country of birthright of their parents (maybe going back to grandparents). Certainly, once you have played for Samoa you shouldn’t then be able to play for another International country - in my opinion. Cricket is just as bad…