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'Beyond a joke' issue tackled in Nigel Owens' clean-up rugby plan
Retired referee Nigel Owens has outlined the changes he believes needs to happen before the next Rugby World Cup in Australia in 2027. The Test centurion official was in France during the recent finals and he made no secret at the time of his annoyance with the increased influence that the TMO was now wielding on matches.
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The Welshman has now returned to the hot topic in his latest walesonline.co.uk column, highlighting the changes he wants to see implemented in other aspects of the game, while he also wants officials to start refereeing some neglected areas, including the scrum feed which he reckoned was now “beyond a joke”.
Owens wants the powers that be to take a look at the tackle height and to get rid of the goal line drop out. He also wants the existing laws governing the game to be implemented more, such as punishing crooked feeds into the scrum, punishing deliberately collapsed rucks, and addressing what he feels are endlessly boring box kicks from the back of long ruck set-ups.
Here is what Owens had to say about the tackle height. “I know having spoken to people across the community game in England and Wales that the current law trial has been well received and has actually gone down better than many people expected.
“It’s certainly something that needs to be looked at in the professional game too because at the moment it’s not in law that it’s illegal to tackle upright and players are not changing their behaviour in lowering their tackle height.”
A trip down memory lane for @Nigelrefowens
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Switching to goal line drop outs, he added: “It was hoped that they would improve player safety by reducing the number of pick-and-gos and encourage teams to spread the ball along the back line rather than bulldoze their way over to score.
“But if you look at games now, teams are still picking and going and they are still bulldozing their way over the line. If anything, it rewards negative play as the defender can just chuck themselves under the ball and hold it up. So for me, goal line dropouts haven’t worked and should be changed.
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“If you are attacking and you are held up, then you should be rewarded with a five-metre scrum. If we lose scrummaging from our game, then we may as well play rugby league.”
Mention the scrum, Owens took great issue with the law-ignoring influence of the scrum-half. “How scrum-halves are feeding into the scrum is worse than ever at the moment. In the past, it wasn’t really ever straight and I was probably as guilty of letting it slide as anybody else at the time, but now it is beyond a joke. Most scrum-halves may as well put it straight under the No.8’s feet.
“Too many scrums are not being refereed at the moment. Too many refs are playing on when the scrum is down and not dealing with the issues behind it, and the problem then just continues over and over again.
“They simply need to be stronger – if they can be stronger in refereeing it and in dealing with the negative scrummagers, then we will see much more of a contest at scrum time.”
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The contact area was also given the Owens treatment in his weekly column. “It just needs to be refereed better. You can’t deliberately collapse a ruck and players arriving at the ruck should be arriving on their feet and not diving off them.
“I’m not saying that everybody on the ground needs to be penalised, but certainly it’s an area of the game we need to improve on. If we get more players on their feet contesting the ruck then we have more space in midfield for the players to attack. This will also reduce the amount of dangerous clearouts around the dead ruck areas when piles of bodies are on the ground.”
Box kicks also got a telling-off. “The boring and endless box kicks from long ruck set-ups need to be addressed too. The use it call needs to be as soon as the ball is available as in law or I would even think about reducing it to maybe three seconds.”
Owens concluded: “I’m by no means calling for sweeping reforms, but few rugby fans would deny that our game needs quite a bit of attention in certain areas. Simply, if officials can get sharper and referee the current laws of the game, then rugby will be a lot stronger for it.”
- Click here to read the entire Nigel Owens column on walesonline.co.uk
Comments on RugbyPass
Good on Clarke for taking on the criticism and addressing his deficiencies, principally his laziness.
2 Go to comments“It is the people’s favourite against the actual favourite. It is the people’s champions against the actual champions. I’m joking, but it’s going to be a fantastic series.” Why did Darcy make that joke knowing it would be used as click bait? Why did RP headline it as a serious comment? Anyway, the tired comment isn’t very astute. SA players may have played more games etc. Darcy over estimated as a pundit.
21 Go to commentsNot sure Frisch will ever make the French team with Depoortère and Costes waiting in the wings to take over from Danty and Fickou.
1 Go to commentsThe Irish are tired and the Boks are old. The test series won't confirm who is best in the world, it will confirm which team needs to pursue the task of rebuilding with the most urgency.
21 Go to commentsGrant, the first time I have seen an article written by you. Maybe I have missed your previous stuff. These days all professional players effectively play a common season so all top players are equally tired, or rested. That is the job of the coaching ticket to build squad depth and juggle resources so players are ‘ fresh’ when the big games come. Possibly Ireland are less inclined to juggle squad compared to Rassie, who is prepared to take the risk to rest players as well as build depth throughout the year so come WC he has a full squad, experienced and rested enough to win 7 games. After all, to win WC you need to get through the tournament and then win the final big 3 games. Ireland should try and build a bit so come final 3 they are ready. So far only played final 1(QF). I am so looking forward to the Irish tour. Hopefully Rassie has enough time to align his guys, as he draws them from across the globe, and not from 2 sides locally( eg Leinster, Munster). No excuses, going to be exciting.
21 Go to commentsIn football, teams get fined and sometimes docked points for deliberately fielding weakened teams yet Leinster can pretty much do as they please with no comebacks. Could it be because Ireland run the URC? Could it be that Ireland run the ERC? Whichever it is, it stinks!!
6 Go to commentsIreland are only the People’s Champions in Irish eyes. The rest of the world do not care for them very much because of attitudes of people like Gordon, Ferris, Best, Jackman…I could go on!!
21 Go to commentsNot sure how Karl Dickson can ever ref a Quins game, he played for the club for 8 years as understudy to Care and is still close friends with half the team
3 Go to commentsAre bookies taking bets on how many times Vunipola's eventual statement will use the term “elders"? My money is on at least 4 times.
4 Go to commentsSo Ireland will be tired, despite having the most rested test squad in the world. They only play tests, champions cup and urc play off games ffs! Case in point; Leinster sent a B squad to SA for their last two games while their first xv rested up and trained at their leisure for the sf vs Saints at the so called ‘neutral venue’ of Croke Park. So tired? Do me a favour… And as for “people’s champions”? Seriously??? Outside of Ireland they are respected for their ability to win 6N. And of course plenty of inconsequential test friendlies without any real pressure. WC ko games when the pressure is white hot? Not so much…
21 Go to commentsSurprising how standing down or benching a player can do wonders for their motivation. Several players this week in that category.
2 Go to commentsHaha lads lads lads, that’s how you have a holiday In Majorca
4 Go to commentshit on Lynagh was defo late and card-worthy. The other 2 are bang on OK. Hurts you at Test level if youre timing is off and the nostrils are flared. Jerry C knew when to lean in on one, Finau just needs to keep his discipline and head straight.
7 Go to commentsSlade was exceptional against Gloucester. Not only was he doing the classic Slade stuff of running amazing lines and timing passes to perfection to put his wingers into space, he was kicking goals, flying off the line smashing people and crashing into rucks like a flanker… his hair even looked on point. 😍
1 Go to commentsThat’s really sad, hope everyone involved is ok. At least he had pants on.
4 Go to commentsTo be fair it was nowhere bear the Leinster first team (for which, btw, Leinster copped nothing like the outrage that Jake White did for sending a rotated team to the UK). But it’s fun to watch the Stormers doing their thing. They are attracting big, diverse crowds of young fans, and deservedly so. Great to see.
1 Go to commentsIt might be legal but he’s sailing pretty close to the wind. Not a lot needs to go wrong for Finau to end up in the bin. Was it late? Not quite, but borderline. High? A couple of CM within the laws, no room for error with that one. Did he wrap the arms? There was a token effort to wrap one arm, the intent was clearly to hit with the shoulder. So yeah, it’s legal, just. But as we all know, a very slight change in the dynamics could easily have him seeing red. Hopefully not when it really matters.
7 Go to commentsCan we also show some love for Tane Edmed’s fantastic draw and pass? Put his body on the line and committed the defender before letting go of that pass. Flawless skill.
7 Go to commentsYou forget this is Rassie Erasmus who is still holding the Springbok keys. Even with Felix Jones orchestrating a really tight RWC SF last year. It still wasn't enough to get England past their particular Springbok Monkey in world cups. The reason is FJ was going off of what they did in 2019 not necessarily adapting to current Springboks. So yes, Australia can get passed England because let's be honest, England have a one track strategy, Springboks do not. Even with rush defense I wouldn't be surprised if Rassie continually tweaks it. Also bear in mind Rassie is happy to sacrifice a few mid year and inter World Cup matches to pin point how opposition plays and how to again tweak strategies to get his Springboks in peak performance for the next World Cup. As much as most teams like to win games in front of them and try to win everything, Rassie always makes sure to learn and train for the greatest showdown International Rugby has to offer. Tbh, most people remember World Cup wins and ignore intermediate losses as a result but will remember also WC losses, Ireland, even if they won games in the interim. So even if games are won against the Springboks, it's likely Rassie is just getting a feel for how opposition is moving and adapt accordingly…in time. For Rassie, a loss is never a loss because he uses it as a chance to learn and improve. Sometimes during a game, again like the England match in last year's Semi Final.
8 Go to commentsDanny don't care. He pretends to care but he don't. He says all this stuff to justify his reasoning but no one can claim that legitimately. He knew exactly what he was doing and wondered if his old team mate would overlook it, which he did. Ref has got to be sidelined or properly trained. It's one thing for refs to move up the ranks but if it was me I would require refs to either have played in different clubs or not at all having the temptation to bias in high stakes games like this. This has got to be stamped out. But then again World Rugby is so destroying the game of rugby in an attempt to be more “safe” and “concussion free”. What they are doing is making it more infuriating for the fans and more difficult for the refs to officiate evenly and consistently. It's fast become Australian Rules football. If guys don't want concussions, they should have played chess. Stop complaining you oldies of the game. When they played the game was vastly heavier hitting than it is now but of course they can't see that.
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