Author Topic: Where's the rugby comments? (Read 9153 times)

38thBeatle · « **Reply #15 on:** October 21, 2007, 10:44:34 PM »

oh dear-we could go on all night like this couldn't we.

Jonesy76 · « **Reply #16 on:** October 21, 2007, 11:33:25 PM »

I'm Welsh and am married to a Kiwi.........

Rugby isn't just a sport in our household.........

It's a way of life :D

shobet · « **Reply #17 on:** October 21, 2007, 11:38:17 PM »

Quote from: Jonesy76

I'm Welsh and am married to a Kiwi.........

Rugby isn't just a sport in our household.........

It's a way of life :D

I could make a hooker joke, but I'm new here so I wont!

Jonesy76 · « **Reply #18 on:** October 22, 2007, 08:11:59 AM »

I'm just suprised no-ones come in with a sheep joke yet! :lol:

plastercaster · « **Reply #19 on:** October 23, 2007, 11:16:47 AM »

Quote from: Crazy_Joe

Football > Rugby :P

*AAA* can't even beat the Russians at our national sport *HEM*

It wasn't a try sadly - his foot had touched the line, and congratulations to the ref for making the right decision, because I was sure it was a try until I saw the footage frame by frame.
Something should be done to encourage tries, because kicking games are Rubbish. shrink the teams down to 14, wider pitch, perhaps?

kevincurtis · « **Reply #20 on:** October 23, 2007, 04:25:12 PM »

Like everyone I always want to see tries run in..however in knockout competitions when winner takes all, it just wont happen, too much pressure for people to take the risk - unless the team behind gets desperate and the game opens out.

Jonesy76 · « **Reply #21 on:** October 23, 2007, 05:05:48 PM »

What you need is for drop goals to be reduced down to 1 point - they're a bloody negative aspect to the game anyway, and possibly have penatlies reduced to 2 points. Then you need to up the points for a try to 6. That way you'll encourage teams to run the ball and score tries, whereas at the moment most teams simply drive the ball down the field in Up-the-jumper style and then wait for any infringement so they can pass the ball to their kicker.

Make penalties less profitable, and make tries more profitable and teams will naturally make more of an attempt to get the ball over the line rather than rely on their kicker.

Not going to happen though when a number of the IRB's officials in that field are English, and even most English fans will admit that their backs aren't half as good as a lot of other teams. The English pack is probably 1st or 2nd in the world, but their counterparts behind them aren't in that league at the moment.

kevincurtis · « **Reply #22 on:** October 24, 2007, 12:32:01 PM »

To play devils advocate :twisted: , if you made tries so overwhelming in terms of points, teams would do anything to stop them and infringe more. Having watched England get dropped kicked out of the cup I still wouldnt reduce the value of drop goals - we had to find a way to stop them from getting into position. Francois Steyne banging a drop goal over from the half way line from a 22 drop out was fantastic skill...and made the opposition think more to overcome it. 7's rugby is there if you want to see open play, and I personally wouldn't want to change the dynamics of 15's - stop the infringements, that would open it up more.

Crazy_Joe · « **Reply #23 on:** October 24, 2007, 12:39:34 PM »

Quote from: plastercaster

Quote from: Crazy_Joe

Football > Rugby :P

*AAA* can't even beat the Russians at our national sport *HEM*

What has my quote got to do with beating the russians at football? :P

Jonesy76 · « **Reply #24 on:** October 24, 2007, 01:00:45 PM »

I see your point Kevin, but 7's rugby is regarded as the poor cousin to the 15 game, and most of us out there would prefer to see fast, flowing, running rugby rather than just seeing the obvious outcome of this current brand of rugby..............

Bigger, more muscular, more powerful, and hopelessly less mobile professional rugby players for playing grind up the pitch rugby. If that happens I'll be forced to stop watching International rugby as it's not what I grew up with, and not what I recognise as a proper version of the game. I've never been one to watch in awe at a great defence.....show me Shane Williams dancing past a couple of tackles to go in at the corner any day as that is where I feel the skill is. Any Bath fans out there will undoutedly disagree

And even though I agree that Steyns drop goal was immense in the final, how many have you seen miss in this world cup? It just kills the game dead which diminishes the game as a spectacle. If us rugby fans want our game to be taken seriously it has to be able to be a spectacle that non-fans will enjoy and bring them into the game. For the last 4 years New Zealand have been trying to do that, but for some unfathomable reason they tried the Northern Hemisphere tactic of boring boring rugby in their quarter final against France and subsequently lost (not that the ref missed the most blatant forward pass of the match to allow for Frances match winning try!

)

kevincurtis · « **Reply #25 on:** October 25, 2007, 08:45:30 AM »

A double whammy...you've had a dig at England and now Bath ;)

:shock: who are currently playing some of the most flowing rugby in the Premiership :)

I agree about NZ...although i think they started to go away from their counter attack rugby a year ago which allowed them to play that fast flowing game against defences that werent set and the results spoke for themselves.

I can't resist pointing to this:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/7059673.stm

But I do fundamentally agree that sometimes an arm wrestle isn't a great spectacle, but I still say that when the stakes are high it is kind of innevitable until one team is far enough behind that they throw caution to the wind.