Expect artificial crowd noise when the Premiership returns - Andy Goode
Competitive sport can officially get back underway in the UK tomorrow but we’re still no nearer to knowing when the Premiership will return and that has to change soon. Premiership Rugby have dismissed the law trials suggested by World Rugby this week and rightly so in my opinion as they would mean we’d be playing an entirely different sport but the clubs have to reach a consensus soon so everyone knows what the plan is.
You can see that the ideas from World Rugby are based on science and scrapping reset scrums, choke tackles and the like would obviously reduce the amount of time players are in contact with one another but rugby is a contact sport and we should either be ready to return to full rugby or not return at all yet.
Rugby is returning very soon in New Zealand but the rate of infection there is so low now that is much easier to facilitate. Here, it may be a case of players having to accept a certain level of risk or opting out but testing is clearly key.
The Premier League in football has spent £4 million on testing kits and infrastructure and it has been reported that it would cost each Premiership rugby club £20,000 per week.
If that figure is correct, you can see why clubs would think twice when many are facing the prospect of a very tough financial future in the short to medium term and were already losing money but testing will be key to any return to play.
The clubs are meeting behind the scenes and working towards a return but they still don’t seem to be able to agree and they’ll need to do so quickly if we’re going to see the Premiership return soon enough to complete the 2019/20 season.
Rob Baxter has said it’s safer to train than go to the supermarket and most players are probably still going to the shop for food so I think it’s a case of working out what level of risk clubs, and crucially players, are prepared to accept and there will clearly be some risk whatever we do unfortunately.
World Rugby Chairman Sir Bill Beaumont has said that “it’s only when we get testing, vaccines etc that I think we can be absolutely confident” and he’s right but a vaccine doesn’t look like being available for a while if ever so there’s no chance of waiting for that before getting back underway.
When the Premiership does return, they’ll have had the opportunity to see what the Premier League in football has done in terms of innovation not just in terms of protecting against Coronavirus but also to deal with the issue of the games being behind closed doors.
BT Sport will no doubt have a number of things up their sleeve already and they’ll have been watching the return of the NRL in rugby league this weekend too where artificial crowd noise was used to good effect.
They even went to the trouble of getting crowd noise from specific games at specific stadiums and having certain chants in there as well and I think that does enhance the broadcast experience. It’d definitely improve things if you were trying to do commentary on the game too.
It might be a bit weird for the players but no stranger than playing in front of eery silence. The players won’t need it to help them get up for the game because they’ll be itching to get out there after a break as long as this but it’d certainly help the broadcast.
You can hear a pin drop when you’re kicking at Welford Road but it would be weird if that were the case for the full 80 minutes and I think BT Sport will want some noise to make it feel more atmospheric to viewers at home.
The NRL also offered fans a chance, for a price, to send in their photo to be used as a cardboard cut-out in the empty stadiums. A photo of Dominic Cummings was even spotted in the crowd at one of the games.
I’m not sure if that’s something BT Sport will be adopting but I’ll be ready to send in my photo if they do. It may be the only way I’ll be seen in the stands at Allianz Park anytime soon!
Comments on RugbyPass
Yip his great for the big moments when needed as a safa really enjoy watching him
4 Go to commentsOne that will start to come up from now on is penalties for back pushes during kick chase scrambles. Very difficult to detect. In Croke Park if you replay the Hendy NH try, you will see Furbank push Porter in the back, who collides with Larmour knocking the ball across into Hendy’s path to dot down. A more significant example was in the RWC QTR final where Arendse pushes Fickou into two other French players for the ball to spill into Arendse’s path for him to gather and run in to score SAs first try. Not cheating if you are not caught and very difficult to spot but with kicking becoming so critical I feel its an area that will referreeed/TMO-ed more.
3 Go to commentsWhat a pathetic little twit Andy Goode is, as if we care what he thinks…..😂
114 Go to commentsFoxy has been a wonderful player for the Scarlets and Wales.
1 Go to commentsNika the Georgian is the best referee in the world at the moment. Luckily we will be spared the shite SH refs and Barnes will hopefully remain retired given how shite and embarrassing he was at the RWC.
3 Go to commentsThis is the most exciting game of the summer imo, as we really won’t know in advance how both teams are going to play. - Will Robertson just reproduce his Crusaders tactics from last year, or will there be a conscious effort to borrow from the Hurricanes and Blues, and from the aspects of the ABs world cup strategy that worked well? - England under Borthwick have put in some good performances playing attacking rugby, and some good performances playing kick-oriented defensive rugby. Will Borthwick try to merge them together into a single all-court game, or will he continue switching between different approaches depending on the strengths and weaknesses of the opposition?
1 Go to commentsI’m predicting an aggregate points difference of no more than +/-10pts across both matches this series.
1 Go to commentsI’m predicting an aggregate points difference of no more than +/-10pts across both matches this series.
9 Go to commentsFinals are always tense affairs for the players so I do not expect this to be a spectacle of running rugby unfortunately.
3 Go to commentsBulls***': Ex-England international calls out Eben Etzebeth… Not to his face but from very far away… after he’d left. Checked to make sure he wasn’t in the building.
114 Go to commentsHopefully this will mean a new Auckland league team to support in the west. Big Warriors fan but it’s very, very stale on that front and I’d like the option of another team if it was to watch league again. League needs to step up BIG time if its to get anywhere, another AK team and something from the capitol or south is a must for the game.
3 Go to commentsGood, deep interview, nice job Frankie!
1 Go to commentsNRL players don’t have anywhere near the number of Tests. Some people would be happy having Rest Homes full if 40 yo ex-players walking, or hobbling more like it, into walls. It’s just a game!
4 Go to commentsNOW Razor is worried about ABs getting injured or overplayed! Didn’t bother him last year. He happily played his AB Crusaders.
4 Go to commentsWhat is the World Rugby U20 players born year.
2 Go to commentsMuch like the Chiefs finally gave up waiting for Atu Moli to ever not be injured, you have to wonder if the Chiefs and Crusaders will let Josh Lord and Ethan Blackadder go next season. They’re being well paid to sit in the injury ward every year. Better off putting those funds towards someone who might actually play.
7 Go to commentsShowed better basic skills than some nz Super sides, who probably would have botched some of those backline moves. This tournament really is too short though. Needs more teams, or have them play two rounds to properly prepare them for the near full-time NH U20 sides.
4 Go to commentsGood grief it’s only six months. Probably just upset it’s not an established kiwi entering their prime they can “project” into green to join the rest.
3 Go to commentsGood player but far from being best in the world. That's an exaggeration. Perhaps Best in world by Northern Hemisphere standards and biasis but certainly not Southern Hemi standards
4 Go to commentsWell one thing about World Cup knock out rounds and Ireland is very clear: they won’t be getting ahead of themselves in ‘27! Because making it beyond the QF is well and truly ‘IN THEIR HEADS’ now…😉
114 Go to comments