Sunday 1 August 2010

How to ruin a great sporting contest

How do you ruin a great sporting contest like the one that was developing in Melbourne last night?

Simple.

Have rules that few can follow, that no-one will know when they break, and for which no-one even knows afterwards in what way they were broken—and then keep sending players off for these arcane infringements until the game is over as a contest.

“With 14 men,'” said Robby Deans after last night’s non-contest, “the game becomes a bit of nonsense at this level.”

And so it became. Just as it did a few weeks back in the Irish game. 

Rugby: you’re killing yourself.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Constant infringements and slowing the play down are what kills Rugby, sending off an idiot who does so blatantly right infront of the ref after already being warned is completely warranted.

They had already been destroyed by that point anyway.

Simple Village Shopkeeper said...

First. In the "old days" players would respond to moronic behaviour like Mitchell's with violence. This is a turn off factor and that is why both Union and League have cleaned up their acts, to retain and increase commercial revenue.
Second. The players are professionals now, paid to train and prepare and if they do that well enough play to win. Any player who doesn't know the laws and protocols of the game ought not be paid nor be picked; such players are more hindrance than help and let the game down.
James McGehan

Andrew B said...

I was helping the London Swans 2nds into our second ever finals appearance (2004 was first ever). I didn't and haven't seen the game. Which arcane rules were broken?

StephenR said...

The first arcane infringement was a late and dangerous tackle.

Canterbury Atheists said...

I love all sports except for Golf (it’s not a sport if you don’t sweat) and Netball (must have the stupidest rules of any game I’ve seen) I agree it’s bloody hard to watch rugby without being a qualified referee. The beauty of Football (a.k.a soccer in backwaters) is it is an easy game to follow for neutrals. Not even hardened rugby fans know why the whistle blows half the time. Even the commentators struggle to come-up with a convincing reason why a penalty is given out.

That’s why rugby will never grow globally as a sport. It doesn't make sense to the neutral sports-fan.

Ta.

Paul.

Peter Cresswell said...

It's not so much the arcane rules--though there are far too many of them--it's the hair-trigger sending offs.

It's out of all proportion to the offence (sending off a man for slapping a ball out of someone's hand, FFS!). And in a game at this level it just kills it as a contest.

Why not do it as AFL does: march the game forward ten metres or so if someone is slowing the game down. And don't send them off in this game; just put them on report and (if they've actually done something) bar them from the next few games.

Instead, if you send them off during THIS game, the main ones being punched is everyone trying to watch a fair contest.

It's just dumb.

Jameson said...

As anon says, the Wallabies were toast before the red card, needing three tries, two converted, just to get a point ahead of a team that dominated almost every facet of the game.

This style of "Total Rugby" displayed on Saturday night is making the ABs unstoppable - and infinitely watchable; I wasn't bored for a second of it.

Anonymous said...

The inimitable Allan Jones, who coached the Australians when they were beaten in the playoff for third in the World Cup match in Rotorua, was asked if it made much difference when they had one player ordered from the field.

He replied: "We don't practise with fourteen players".

kurt