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What can rugby learn from The Hundred? Nothing...
Nothing. We won’t listen.
That’s where I was going to stop this article. It would have been a salty, pithy jibe at this game of Rugby Union we so love much. A game so complex and confused by everyone who thinks they know better. We could learn things but we don’t because we’re too busy telling others what we know.
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The Hundred was a big risk. It was a large wager of ECB money, laid on a bet in a crowded marketplace. Before it began, the naysayers lined up. It wouldn’t, couldn’t, shouldn’t work. But somehow it did.
Of course, it didn’t work for those it wasn’t really for. Those with long county beards or one-day goatees, this wasn’t really for them. One in every five tickets for the hundred was purchased by a child. Another one of those five tickets was taken by a woman. You don’t find many of them around a first-class boundary rope. This game spoke to a new audience.
Its crudeness made county folk shudder. The colours, the countdowns, the “Stars in their Eyes” walkouts: all in stark contrast to a sport we loved for its purity, its grace; its pitch-perfect silence. But the youngsters donned the garish hues with pride, smiling and laughing in orange and electric blue. It was also on free to air TV. The ECB forgoing the no doubt bigger pot of cash to make sure it was available for anyone to watch it. The final drew in 2.5million on BBC. 1.6million watched the first women’s game. 2.1million watched Ben Stokes’ Ashes heroics on Sky back in 2019. A moment that did wonders for Test Match Cricket.
The Hundred broke a pretty complex equation down into a relatively simple sum: balls bowled versus runs scored. Placed conspicuously in each corner of the screen, the rising and falling pillars were gauche in their simplicity. Batsmen went in and tried to score as many runs as possible. Then the other side got a go. It was so straightforward it was impossible to not know what was going on. People who didn’t really understand cricket understood The Hundred.
The live events were a roaring success. Yes, many tickets were given away but fans still turned up, and then went back for more. 90% capacities for the tournament’s 31-day run was hit. That’s an extraordinary feat, even before we get into the stats around record crowds for finals.
Yes, I’m sure you can go and find problems and highlight things that need improving but as far as speculative punts go, this one came home. Cricket spent but subsequently accumulated a huge amount. Participation levels are reportedly up across clubs in the UK already. People who previously did not mention cricket in restaurant conversations are recounting the fun of seeing colourful batters swipe sixes and get skittled. It worked. It is not the end of the road but as a first step, it was a good one.
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So what can rugby learn? A lot. Maybe the traditional game is too complex. Maybe it’s too nuanced and multi-layered to bring in new fans. Maybe the games could be shorter and a little easier to follow; slightly different rules with the emphasis on running with the ball. Maybe there could be a little more razzmatazz and music for young fans.
Maybe there could be a new set of teams from geographical areas made up of the best players in that area. Maybe the whole thing needs to just take one month, maybe we should give lots of tickets away and just get loads of people into the grounds. Maybe men’s and women’s teams could play one after the other and one ticket would cover both or all the games. Maybe there could be extra points available for some individual skill competitions on the night; imagine a few ‘Superstars’ type competitions to watch at halftime! Maybe each team can have a ‘two-minute titan’ who can be used at any point during the game to give you a brief one-player advantage – they enter the fray to a fanfare and wear a special Day-Glo scrum cap. Maybe it could be sold for not very much money to FTA TV and pumped into homes at prime time slots. Not a seven or fifteen aside version, something in between. Ten aside for fifteen-minute halves. Adapted rules to keep the ball in play and people rewarded for quick thinking. No tackles above the waist. Two-man rucks, maximum. Squads of twenty with every player having to take part in each game unless injured. Famous coaches and media fronts for every franchise. Daft kits in crazy colours. Free popcorn for everyone and a specially adapted pink ball, versions of which are on sale for very little money at each game. It would take a large investment, lots of speculative pounds spent on the hope that it would work. We wouldn’t get everything right the first season but it could be brilliant.
When would we do it? Maybe over the summer. Replace these meaningless international games and grow our game. Properly spend money on making more people actively engaged with the sport that we love so much. A sport that is heading in the wrong direction. Headed the way cricket was. Before the Hundred started singing.
Man, I hope we were listening.
'Someone offered me to come and have a look at buying Gloucester Rugby Club, I had a little look a few years back. But the business model just doesn’t work'@Bournemouth7s founder @DodgeWoodall talks to @heagneyl ??? abt why rugby struggles to turn profit https://t.co/1Gn2lyMq4G
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) August 29, 2021
Comments on RugbyPass
Well where do you start, the fact that England have a professional domestic league and Ireland’s is fully amatuer, that they have fully seperated professional squads at Fifteens and Sevens (7’s thinly disguised as GB), and Ireland have fully pro Sevens squad who loan some players back to the Semi-Professional Fifteens squad (moved from amateur for only a year or so) for a few games at 6N & RWC’s. The Women’s games is a shambles, and is at risk of killing itself by pushing for professionalism when the market isn’t really there to support it outside one or two countnries..
2 Go to commentsWayne Smith's input didn't have as much impact on the last final as Davison's red card for Thompson. England were 14 points up and flying when that happened.
2 Go to commentsBilly's been playing consistently well for 2 - 3 seasons now and deserves a look in at the top level. Ioane and ALB are still first choice but there needs to be injury cover and succession. His partnership with Jordie gives him first dibs you'd think. Go the Hurricanes.
3 Go to commentsIt’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
2 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
28 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
2 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
1 Go to commentsSad that this was not confirmed. When administrators talk about expanding the game they evidently don’t include pathways to the top tier of rugby for teams outside of the old boys club. Rugby deserves better, and certainly Georgia does.
2 Go to commentsLions might take him on if they move on Van Rooyen but I doubt he will want to go back, might consider it a step backwards for himself. Sharks would take him on but if Plumtree goes on to win the challenge cup they will keep him on. Also sharks showing some promising signs recently. Stormers and Bulls are stable and Springboks are already filled up. Quality coach though, interesting to see where he ends up
1 Go to commentsAnd the person responsible for creating a culture of accountability is?
3 Go to commentsMore useless words from Ben Smith -Please get another team to write about. SA really dont need your input, it suck anyway.
264 Go to commentsThis disgraceful episode must result in management and coach team sackings. A new manager with worse results than previous and the coaching staff need to coached. Awful massacre led by donkeys.
1 Go to commentsInteresting article with one glaring mistake. This sentence: “And between the top four nations right now, Ireland, France, South Africa, and New Zealand…” should read: And between the top four nations right now, South Africa, Ireland, New Zealand and France…”. Get it right wistful thinkers, its not that hard.
24 Go to commentsHow did Penny get the gig anyway?
3 Go to commentsNice write up Nick and I would have agreed a week ago. However as you would know Cale & co got absolutely monstered by the Blues back row of Sotutu, Ioane and Papaliti and not all of these 3 are guaranteed a start in the Black jumper. He may need to put some kgs before stepping up, Spring tour? After the week end Joe will be a bit more restless. Will need to pick a mobile tough pack for Wales and hope England does the right thing and bashes the ABs. I like your last paragraph but I would bring Swinton, Hannigan into the 6 role and Bobby V to 8
28 Go to commentsThe Crusaders can still get in to the Play Off’s. The imminent return of outstanding captain Scott Barrett and his All Black team mate Codie Taylor will be a big boost.There are others like Tamaiti Williams too. Two home games coming up. Fellow Crusader fans get there and support these guys. I will be.
2 Go to commentsCant get more Wellington than Proctor.
3 Go to commentsWhy not let the media decide. Like how they choose the head coach. Like most of us we entrust the rugby system to choose. A rugby team includes the coaches. It's collective.
14 Go to comments