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Tired of the faffing about, Clive Woodward fears TV viewers will switch off unless Premiership teams adopt new attitude
Clive Woodward fears rugby is in a perilous place as the Gallagher Premiership gets ready to restart its 2019/20 season this weekend. Claiming that the sport’s absence has barely been noticed, he has called on the dozen top-flight clubs to speed up the game and deliver a product that will prevent TV viewers from switching off.
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Harlequins will host Sale on Friday in the league’s first match since the March 8 meeting of Bristol and Quins, the last game played before the Premiership in England went into lockdown.
Writing in his latest Sportsmail column ahead of the restart, Woodward called on teams to adopt a change in attitude so that faffing about and time-wasting will be replaced by the type of entertaining fare that will keep fans engaged all the way through to the October final.
“It has been a desert out there for the last five months and there is a captive audience waiting to be thrilled,” wrote the former England coach. “That’s exactly what rugby must do – or suffer the consequences.
“A great game of rugby is still the finest sporting spectacle in the world, but a bad game of stop-start rugby, with no crowd, emotion – just hype and manufactured drama to mask those deficiencies – is as boring and unsatisfying an experience as it is possible to imagine.
SIR CLIVE WOODWARD: Ditch the reset scrums, endless box kicks and slow lineouts – now rugby’s back it needs to entertain us! https://t.co/S6YzkxaBG7
— MailOnline Sport (@MailSport) August 12, 2020
“There will be no hiding place in the coming weeks. It will be stripped bare like never before and we will see exactly where the sport is currently delivering… and where it has gone down a cul de sac. The first few games could be like discovering the game for the first time.
“Sports must stand and fall by what they deliver and, thus far, cricket, golf and football have delivered in spades. So what can rugby deliver? We must step up to the plate. This isn’t about finishing the season as a formality, it is about relaunching the game and capturing imaginations like never before.
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“To do so, all involved in the game must realise this shift in priorities – media, players, coaches, owners. If you thought, pre-Covid, that faffing around with three or four scrum resets was boring, or that endless box kicks were like Groundhog Day, try watching that ‘action’ take place in an empty, echoing ground.
“And there is still too much time wasted as most lineouts gather in their own good time – another excuse for a rest and slowing everything down.
“That simply isn’t going to cut the mustard for long, especially on hard summer pitches. The TV viewer will soon switch off and that will be disastrous for rugby. It should be a game for elite, fit athletes, not those just finding a way to coast their way through proceedings.
“The stakes are high. Rugby is in a perilous position vis-a-vis other sports who have been putting their best foot forward. Rugby must deliver a high-tempo, fluid, innovative game rich in skill, speed and strength. This might be the end of the season, but let’s see a new attitude, the start of something brighter and better.”
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'As a black player, you get pigeon-holed. You’re either an athlete and you’ll get stuck on the wing or he’s big, let’s stick him in the second row' @Harlequins wing @natenate174 talks about gaining coaches' trust, his ACL, BLM & more, with @heagneyl ???https://t.co/qxaJxTQeXM
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) August 2, 2020
Comments on RugbyPass
Not sure exactly what went wrong for him at Glasgow but it’s pretty clear he ain’t Franco’s cup of tea. Suspect he would have been better served heading out of Scotland around the same time as Finn, Hoggy and Jonny!
1 Go to commentsBulls disrespected the Northampton supporters and the competition. Decide quickly, fully in or out.
24 Go to commentsI wonder if Parling was ever on England’s radar as a coach? Obviously Borthwick is a great lineout coach, but I do worry he might be taking on too much as both head coach and forwards coach.
1 Go to commentsJason Jenkins has one cap. When Etzebeth was his age he had over 80 caps. Experience matters. He will never amount to what Etzebeth has because he hasn’t been developed as an international player.
1 Go to commentsSays much about the player picking this gig over the easier and bigger rewards offered to him in Japan. Also says a lot about the state sanctioned tax benefits the Irish Revenue offers pro rugby players, with their ten highest earning years subject to an additional 40% tax relief and paid as a lump sum, in cash, at retirement. Certainly helps Leinster line up the financial ducks in a row to fund marquee signings like this!!! No other union anywhere in world rugby benefits from this kind of lucrative financial sponsorship from their government…
5 Go to commentsTrue Jordie could earn a lot more in Japan. But by choosing Leinster he’ll be playing with 1 of the best clubs in the world and can win a champions cup and URC…..
6 Go to commentsThanks for that Marshy, noticed you didn't say who is gonna win it. We know who ain't gonna win it - your Crusaders outfit. They've gone from having arguably the best Super Rugby first five ever, to having a clutch of rookies. Hurricanes all the way!
1 Go to commentsGeez you really have to question the NRLs ability to produce players of quality. Its pathetic. Dont the 25mil in Aus produce enough quality womens players. Sad.
1 Go to commentsBulls fan here, and agree 100% with the conclusion (and little else) of this article. SA sides should absolutely f-off from the champs cup until we get fair scheduling, equal support for travel arrangements and home semis. You know, like all the european teams get.
24 Go to commentsI’m yet to see why Grace would be an ABs contender. He’s pedestrian and lacks the dominance required of a top flight 8.
11 Go to commentsGee my Highlanders were terrible. They have gone backwards since the start of the season. The trouble began when we left Millar behind to prep as the 10 against the Brumbies and he was disconnected from the team that came back from Aussie. We rested Patchell for that game and we blew an avalanche of ball in good attacking positions in the 1st half. Against the Rebels we seem to of gone into a pod system with forwards hanging off from the breakdown leaving Fakatava to secure our ball!
80 Go to commentsPot Kettle, the English and French teams have done it for years.
24 Go to commentsHas virtually played every minute of previous games. Back row of Li Lo Willie , Grace and Blackadder would be the 1. Crusaders issue is a very average 1st 5 who cannot run. Kicking in general play is also below par They need to put Yong Kemara in. He must have so.e talent for them to bring him down from Waikato. Hoehepa would struggle to play in so.e club sided
11 Go to commentsI hope this a good thing making all these changes!
3 Go to commentsThe Hurricanes are good, especially with a decent coach now. However, let’s be real, the Crusaders and Chiefs are clearly a good degree weaker without the players they’ve lost overseas now. The Canes lost one player. It’s also why the aussie teams ‘seem’ to be stronger.
9 Go to commentsOr you could develop your own players instead of constantly taking from the SH competition and weakening it in the process? With all the player and financial resources these unions have compared to SH countries you’d think they could manage that, or is weakening the SH comps and their national sides an added bonus? Probably.
3 Go to commentsNot so fast Aaron, we might need you in black yet lol. God knows he’d be a lot less nerve-racking than hot and (very) cold players like Perofeta. It’s really a shame Reuben Love isn’t playing 10, we’ve got enough 15 options.
4 Go to commentsAnd those from the NH still seem to be puzzled (and delighted) why NZ’s depth isn’t what it once was. Over 600 NZ players overseas, that’s insane. This sort of deal is why Super Rugby coaches have admitted they struggle now to find enough quality to fill out their squads.
6 Go to commentsArticle intéressant ! La question devrait régulièrement se poser pour les jeunes français originaires de Nouvelle-Calédonie, Wallis-et-Futuna et de Polynésie entre la Nouvelle-Zélande et la Métropole… Difficile pour la fédération française de rugby de se positionner : soit le choix est fait de dénicher les jeunes talents et de les faire venir très tôt en Métropole, au risque de les déraciner, soit on prend le risque de se les faire “piller” par les All Blacks qui, telle une araignée, essaye de récupérer tous les talents des îles du Pacifique… À la France de se défendre en développant l’aura du XV de France et des clubs français dans ses collectivités d’Outre-mer !
3 Go to commentsWrong bay. He needs to come to the REAL BAY which is Bay Of Plenty and have a crack at making the Chiefs.
3 Go to comments