1
World Rugby conference set to address the sport's biggest talking points
Off the back of a hugely successful Rugby World Cup 2023 and in the midst of the Six Nations, amongst other domestic rugby competitions taking place, the State of the Game conference is now in full swing.
ADVERTISEMENT
The annual World Rugby conference falls within the law review cycle and is set to take stock of game and fan trends before delivering outcomes to be considered and in turn recommended to the Executive Board in March.
In recent years the forum has been key in delivering law application guidelines to speed up the game as well as innovations such as the Bunker review system.
This year it’s likely that some of the sport’s most talked about areas will be addressed, for example the infamous ‘Antoine Dupont law’ and TMO interventions.
“World Rugby’s purpose is to grow the global game by making it more relevant and accessible,” said a World Rugby spokesperson.
“The Shape of the Game conference is an annual forum that brings together playing, coaching, match officiating, medical and fan experts from across the game to consider the latest trends and make recommendations to advance playing and audience experience.
“As with previous editions, outcomes will be considered by World Rugby with recommendations being made to the Executive Board.”
ADVERTISEMENT
Day one will focus on the general presentation of latest information regarding data and trends from playing, medical, and fans, while day two will be committee meetings (community, high performance men’s and women’s, professional leagues and the professional game), with information considered and generic recommendations leading to joint group discussions on day three for consideration.
As mentioned above the Rugby World Cup 2023 was hugely successful. I agree.
Steady the ship keep it straight on ahead.
minor adjustments and guidelines only please and keep going straight on ahead.
You are going in the correct direction, Player safety is key, officiating is marvellous Refs with Joël Jutge and the TMO skill level and the Bunker review system are professional and sweet.
Women’s numbers are up and they play a great game.WARNING: try not letting the fan centric approach take over.
CHANGE NO 1
To speed up game could be to scrap the try conversion. Attacking Team has already got 5 points for the try, why wait 2 minutes for another 2 points or 0 points if it is a miss? restart the game , let’s go.
Keep penalties and drop goals as is.
Ok maybe another change,
CHANGE NO 2. The other one is maybe delete the ability to mark the ball. Which is a player enforced delay of choice. There should be no marking of the ball. Although I totally enjoyed Damian Willemse’s scrum mark.
Otherwise excellent product, leave everything as is.
Bula
Many would not call that a hugely successful World Cup emanating from a draw that skewed the tournament so badly that the top teams were eliminating each other in the Quarter Finals. Then we had the spectacle of TMOs ruining the fluidity of play and affecting the results of games. This resulted in a bore fest for fans and many new to the sport would have found themselves wondering what all the fuss was about. Worst of all though, were some of the refereeing displays which were shameful: Carley in Fiji vs Wales and Berry in Ireland vs Scotland. The fact that World Rugby persists in allowing their continuance in the Six Nations shows that they are inherently corrupt.
WR let the referees take the blame for their idiotic rules and then turned the heat back on the fans when they didnt like it. The TMO interventions are a nonsense, not only slowing the game down and squeezing the life out of the flow but far too much influence relying on faulty tech. Its getting like NFL already, no thanks. TMO delivered this RWC to the Springboks on a plate, an above-average team that delivered them the silverware on the fine margins of penalty and rule interpretations, our kicker is better than your kicker. On-field refs 1-2m from the action giving clear decisions only to have the replays overturn decisions because the camera wasnt in the right place. The Fiji try vs Wales ? dont we/they deserve better than telling us what we saw was not so - esp for these Tier 2 teams. The Kolbe chargedown ? no official TMO replay ? some Safa dudes cameraphone angle from Tier Z uploaded to Tik Tok says it was OK ? He was clearly over the line before the kicker took a step. Thats 2pts and a win for France. Etzebeth’s 1-handed goal line knock on ? ball goes forward, that’s a penalty try and YC, he made zero effort to use 2 hands. No decent camera angle, out of all those spider cams ? Thats an even more clear win for France, cheating was rewarded. Kolbe does same thing in Final (clearly a Rassie tactic, coached cheating) but only loses 6mins in the bin, worth the risk. If their technology isnt 100% then the system is flawed. How many phases can the TMO go back - we’re told its 2 phases for a try but then TMO goes back 5-6 (AB try in Final) for an incident Barnes repeatedly said was OK. Ignore the SA fans moaning, theyre constantly bleating about ‘cheating refs’ and ‘cheating players’ for years and years but its only silence when it goes their way. Its WR that needs to get a grip and be clear. Publish the TMO rules and stick to it. If we accept there is ambiguity then give the Capt - only - 1 on field Challenge per game. Return the power to the players, not The Waterboy in the stand. If the stadiums dont have the kit, then the TMO is faulty by definition. Clarify when it can and cant be used. Dont let the refs take the blame from ‘social media’ when its WR that is pissy kneed about its flawed application. Roll out all those dumb poor-ref reels on socials when its WR at fault.
Speeding the game up would be a start. Giving teams 30 seconds to form a scrum is too generous. Let’s drop that down to 15 seconds for teams to be ready for the engagement process to start. If you take too long, the sanction is a full arm penalty. Could 90 seconds to take a conversion be reduced to 60? Could 60 seconds to take a penalty be reduced 45?
Simplifying the laws wherever possible would be a a good step forward for the game. Rugby’s complexities are embraced by those who are fanatical but it’s arguably too complex for the casual fans.