Ex-Fiji coach Ben Ryan compares rugby to failed company 'Enron', treatment of Tier two nations like 'slave labour'
Ex-Fiji Sevens head coach Ben Ryan has opened up in an honest and frank interview with The Guardian, blasting the international game for its treatment of Tier two nations and referees, as well as wider concerns of where the game is going.
“If rugby were a company people would be comparing it to an Enron,” he said, “It’s completely dysfunctional.”
After Japan’s coach revealed that his players will receive just £13 per day to represent their country ahead of their test against England, Ryan has first-hand experience of the same disparities from coaching Fiji, comparing the situation for Tier two nations not far away from ‘slave labour’.
“It’s not far off slave labour,” he explained.
“If you are playing somewhere where the crowd is over a certain figure you should get some of the money. At the moment it’s a case of ‘We’ll fly you over and give you a nice few days in the Lensbury Club’ but that’s where it stops.”
The lack of preparation available for those nations is another barrier to improved performance.
“Quite a few people were critical of Fiji in Scotland on Saturday but they’ve had no time together. They and Samoa have players playing on almost every continent. You can’t prepare in four or five days having played a club game the previous week.”
Ryan fears the game is becoming a bash-fest, with dangerous areas of the game like rucks ignored by referees despite the high-impact collisions occurring at the breakdown. With the size and athleticism ever increasing, the load on players is going to take its toll on their bodies.
“There’s so much grey in the lawbook. There are at least three laws – collapsing rucks, not staying on your feet wilfully and shoulders below your hips – we just ignore. I think it’s incredibly dangerous. Almost every weekend now there’s something. How do we expect teams, players and supporters to understand our game when we’ve got all this going on?”
The game at the grassroots level is mirroring the top, with winning rucks taking priority over core skills. He revealed that even referees in the Top 14, France’s professional league, are being told to ‘not bother’ with policing the breakdown.
“The school kids are looking at what the top players are doing. At the moment the perception is that the way to win professional games is through blunt-force trauma, winning ruck after ruck and going through 20 or 30 phases.
“I went to one county age-group finals day and there were yellow pads everywhere. I didn’t see any long passing skills, it was just boom, boom, boom.
“In every single ruck, there’s something going on. In the Top 14, the referees are being told: ‘Don’t even bother refereeing the breakdown, just see what happens.’ At the moment it’s just a mess. They’ve let it run away with itself.
He is happy to speak out over the direction of the game and hopes it won’t lead to a ‘brawn over brain’ contest. At the moment, the decision-makers aren’t looking at the big picture.
“I don’t think people are looking at the full picture. You can’t put a number on everything but we know the game is going in the wrong direction. There are still too many stakeholders and too many invested decisions. They need some independent consultants to say: ‘This is what is best for the game.’”
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Comments on RugbyPass
Why cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to comments