Rugby Revived: Nations Championship

Rugby has been in the doldrums for years now, what with rigged games and lack of defence. But, watching over the weekend, the new Nations Championship format looks to be promising. This is where the top 12 teams in the world play one another for the overall title of world champion. The teams are divided into two pools, the Northern Hemisphere and the Southern Hemisphere. Peculiarly, Japan has been placed in the Southern Hemisphere.

Results (North First, then South)

France 32 - 34 New Zealand

Italy 10 - 27 Japan

Ireland 33 - 31 Australia

Wales 39 - 24 Fiji

England 21 - 45 South Africa

Scotland 47 - 38 Argentina

The competition will take place over two years, culminating in a grand final where the top team from the North plays the top team from the South.

One problem with this format is it is likely to lead to the South dominating the North, because all Rugby World Cup winners, apart from just the one - England - are in the South.

World Rugby are trying to head off the challenge posed by rival promotions such as Rugby360. In Super Rugby they now have their Super Rugby Weekends where all the teams descend on one city and play over a weekend. This year it was held in Christchurch and proved very successful. It helped that Christchurch has a covered stadium.

Rugby has to look at covering its stadiums but at the same time not making them too large. Crowd sizes positioned close to the pitch and numbering about 25k is ideal. The NRL play open to the elements but they do keep their crowd sizes down and have fans able to see the action, which makes for a far better experience.

So, the Super Rugby weekends and this format of a Nations Championship does at least attempt to address the problems rugby is facing, and that is; a lack of fan engagement and high scoring but ultimately unsatisfying games. 

Rugby has to sort out their feed to Google and other search engines. Currently, it is hard to get updates. I'd rate their efforts as a whole a fail on this, a D- for sure. Soccer are always on top of things, by contrast.

The best link I've found is the BBC in England, check it out:https://www.bbc.com/sport/rugby-union 

There is also a second division, called the Nations Cup, and that includes the likes of Georgia, Romania, USA, Samoa etc., but no promotion/relegation as yet. This won't happen anytime soon, but if it does, Georgia are looking the most promising. Even now, Georgia could just about replace Italy.

New Rugby 2026

Many may be aware that rugby union has many challenges currently, notably the drop off in audience. The problem as I see it is that the game has become boring, with frequent and unnecessary stoppages in play, and referees becoming too involved in the game. These referees are manipulating the outcome of matches. The spectators and wider audience can see this and turn off.

Here are some ideas to turn things around.

1. Play the game as four quarters of 20 minutes each, with slowdowns and other unnecessary stoppages penalised.

2. Allow unlimited substitutions and players may return so long as they haven't been sent off for foul play. Substitutions could be made during any pause in play.

3. The game is 15 vs 15 at all times. No yellow or red card. Players sent from the field for foul play are immediately excluded for the rest of the game, but may be replaced from the reserves. Teams only drop to fewer than 15 players on the field when they run out of reserves.

4. Scrums have to be set within 90 seconds, and failure to set the scrum results in a free kick (currently, the time frame is 30 seconds from when the referee sets the mark, but the referee may also call time off. My rule has no time off, just 90 seconds, as players can be replaced and return later at any time anyway, meaning time off is not necessary). 

5. Lineouts only occur when the ball goes out in general play and must be performed within 90 seconds. The 50:22 rule is scrapped.

6. Penalty restarts may be via a tap restart, scrum, kick for goal, or the ball is kicked out on the full. If the ball is kicked out on the full, then, as with rugby league, a tap kick restarts the game for the attacking team from where the ball went out (no lineouts off penalty kicks).

7. Phases of play cannot go beyond twelve consecutive rucks or mauls. On the twelfth phase the attacking team must do something with the ball or hand over possession.

8. Scoring; 5 points for a try, 1 point for a conversion, 2 points for a penalty kick or drop goal. The idea being it takes four kicks to better a converted try (currently, only three goals are worth more than a converted try). Conversions and penalty kicks must be taken within 90 seconds of the ball being placed.

9. Kicks from the 22 are replaced with a tap kick from the 22. Goal line drop-outs remain.

10. Kick-offs at the start and at half time are place kicks, not drop kicks (but cannot score points if the ball goes through the goal). Quarter time restarts occur at the place where play ceased, and restart via scrum, lineout, or tap kick.

11. Introduce synthetic turf. Modern synthetic turf is hard wearing and equalises teams, meaning home advantage isn't so pronounced. Modern turf is padded and cushions players from hard landings and friction burns are minimised by lightly spraying with water prior to games (mist rather than solid wetting). All the old criticisms of 'AstroTurf ' no longer apply.

12. Two referees should be used at the elite level, one leading, one trailing. No video referees, touch judges as now, immediate decisions.

13. Bonus point scrapped and 3 for the win, 1 for a draw after 10 minutes of extra time. If any team scores a try during extra time they win the game immediately, no further play. However, if either team kicks only a goal of any kind then play continues, giving the other side a chance to win the game with a try, or to kick for a draw. During extra time, any try trumps all kicks, so even if a team has three goals (6 points), one five point try results in victory. 

14. In knock-out playoffs; if the match remains a draw after extra time, then another 10 minutes is played with the first team to make any score being the victor.

My thinking here is to maximise spectator investment. They pay to see a contest, not see the game ruined by referees sending players off, or teams playing negatively to eke out a win. 

Super Bowl LX

I watched maybe 45 minutes of Super Bowl LX, and was lucky to see many of the scoring plays. Basically, I'd never go out of my way to watch such stuff, but I was following the winter Olympics at the same time, so did change channels from time to time. 

This was some of the worst football of any football code I've seen. How can anyone watch such rubbish? This was worse than rugby union, which has gone down the same road of incentivising less play while trying to look good doing it. For examples of football sports that actually play foot-ball, try rugby league or soccer. With these, the ball is in play almost continuously.

The big problem with American football for me is players being allowed to throw the ball out. In all other football codes that's not allowed. In soccer, you throw the ball in from out of bounds, but throwing it out is hand ball and a penalty, likewise in rugby it is also a penalty. The game is foot-ball, you kick the ball with your foot, if you want the ball out, you must kick it out. 

For the first time I saw the kick-offs where no-one can move after the ball is kicked, which is counter-intuitive, and looks silly. The ball has been kicked, but everyone waits like a field of pansies. And the scoring team kicking off is also silly, they tried this in rugby league and it failed back in the 90's. There is talk of bringing back some version of this again, but it's a bad idea, the scoring team usually receives the kick off in other football codes. To explain the thinking behind this, it prevents the team scored against ending up perpetually trapped in their own half. It is counter to the spirit of the game and would be very boring to watch, which American football is actually, very boring.

Anyway, back to the Winter Olympics for me, where athletes actually compete and do not stand around comparing their tutus.

All Blacks Coach Sacked

Scott Robertson has lost his job as coach of New Zealand's rugby team, the mighty All Blacks. It was to be expected. He hadn't measured up as the team at times looked disjointed and lacking direction, and they could just collapse at critical times. During his tenure, the All Blacks won 74% of their games played, which is similar to the amateur era, and well below what is expected of a fully professional outfit. As pro's they're expected to win more than 80% of all matches played. 

Personally, I think the rot began even before Robertson took over. That's because he was announced as the next coach before the incumbent had even taken his team to the 2023 World Cup. That they made the final was a truly incredible achievement when you consider that the coaching staff had no job after that final game. That coach, Ian Foster, is due a major apology. If he's available, he should be offered his old job back.

Then, Robertson chose Scott Barrett as All Blacks captain. That job is more important than that of prime minister in NZ, but the problem was that he's not good enough to keep his position on the field. So the team was always down one lock, effectively, while the team was often going backwards. 

On a wider note, and something rugby pundits fail to mention, is that rugby worldwide is undergoing a cash crunch. That's because sponsors are leaving. Rugby does not bring the audience that sponsors require. This year, they've suspended the Rugby Championship and instead, the All Blacks will do an old-fashioned tour of South Africa to rekindle interest and no doubt bring in some revenue. I think this cash crunch must have something to do with this coaching change. 

What sports are prospering right now? Rugby League is very popular, and in NZ the numbers entering the game at the junior level are so strong, they are struggling to find coaches for them all. Motorsport is also back, and athletics is once again very popular. 

And one last note: in 2023, the Rugby World Cup blew it by rigging the final. That was the last time a truly global audience tuned in to see a rugby game, and many were sitting down in front of the TV to watch for the first time. Many of these viewers know sports well, just not rugby. What they saw was a travesty, clearly rigged, and they started switching channels halfway through - that early. Since then, the audience numbers have plummeted. People have got better things to do than watch nonsense WWE-type stuff.

Update: I made this comment on YouTube, and quite like the way I worded it, so adding it here as well:

What went wrong? Scott Robertson coaches the game in a two dimensional way, while the game is at the three dimensional level these days. Steve Hansen understood this and managed his team superbly, and he had an answer to everything the opposition was going to come up with. Ian Foster, his understudy, carried this legacy on and did well, making the 2023 RWC final which was rigged (convince me I'm wrong) and so not his fault that it was lost. Robertson was a regression to predictable operations which most opponents could counter. Hence, the loss to Argentina in Argentina, and the capitulation to South Africa in Wellington. On a wider note, I'm pretty sure David Kirk (Chairman) is looking at the bottom line and realising sponsors are not interested in an All Blacks side that does not win ALL the time. It's about eyes on the screen for sponsors and these days there is a lot of competition, with rugby well down most people's priority list (NZ audience numbers are not significant). We have soccer resurgent, League is back big time with matches sold out, the NFL coming back after its woke-fest etc. When you look at this big picture, people are not tuning in to see a group of grown men do a dance and then look indecisive and, well, a bit soft. Sorry Kiwi fans, time to grow up and put your big knickers on, you're not going to be given a free pass because you look cute.

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/sport/584112/disposable-razor-scott-robertson-dumped-as-all-blacks-coach

Rigged Rugby World Cup 2027

I can see World Rugby is still up to their old tricks. I watched the draw for each group online and noticed that the teams were drawn from barrels that you could not see into. Not only that, but people reached into the barrels containing team names, and drew them out of this covered barrel by hand. Not a good look, why did they not have a machine tumbling the barrels, and then drawing the names automatically?

The structure of the tournament appears designed to allow host Australia to win. We have the ridiculous situation where New Zealand could play South Africa in the quarter-finals. Basically, the final at the quarters stage. I'm not going to be watching, what a farce. The way things are structured, both New Zealand and South Africa would be better off coming second in their groups. Make it make sense.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2027_Men%27s_Rugby_World_Cup

Rugby: New Zealand v Wales

Rugby - On Saturday New Zealand's All Blacks secured a comfortable 52-26 victory over their old foes, Wales, but they looked fragile at times; they often lost possession when hard on attack and out wide the NZ defense looked exposed. Wales are weak at the moment and should not have been allowed 26 points. In a way, the score flattered the All Blacks as Wales looked better than the score suggests. 

I see a weakness with the current Wales team, their forwards lack mobility and good ball-handling skills. That's an area they need to work hard on.

My main complaint is with refereeing and in particular the video referee. Once again we saw the ridiculous situation where the All Blacks were penalised against, yet they went on to score a try anyway, which was converted, only to have all that effort cancelled and made to come back for a penalty in their favour. Make it make sense.

Then, another NZ try was awarded on field by the referee, correctly, but she was clearly intimidated into reversing her decision based on words said from the video referees. The referee had done a good job, and this interference ruins the game.

Rugby is falling in popularity these days, and this is because the referees do not allow the game to flow. And then, the video referees overrule and interfere.

I hope R360 rugby is successful and that they make changes. The current games are simply not good viewing.

All Blacks Average Performance

I'm going to say it, the current New Zealand rugby union team, the All Blacks, are very average. Their latest performance against Australia in Perth, Western Australia, displayed both a lack of skill, and tactical nous.

The skill deficit meant they could not make simple kicks, often missing a kick to touch off their own penalty; and then missing routine kicks for goal. They beat Australia 28-14 but it should have been a victory by a lot more. 

Toward the end of the game they passed up easy kicks for goal and one has to wonder whether they did this as they weren't confident of making the kick, or whether they're just a bunch of amateurs.

The blame for this poor performance must lie with the coaching staff and the captain. It is simply not good enough. And what is it with Sky TV commentators? They refuse to criticise obviously poor play. If a kick to touch off a penalty was missed, they'd say nothing at all about it. It was a case with them of, oh well, play on. Err...no, that is a big error and needs to be pointed out. For those who don't know what I'm talking about: a kick directly to touch off a penalty means you get the ball back from where the ball went out. If you don't get that ball out, the other side runs it back at you, meaning losing possession and field position. Do this often, and it is a sackable offense, but the Sky commentators were silent. Is this some kind of corporate thing now? Sky TV are such twits. 

Rugby 360

It was always going to happen, and now we see the predictable about to become reality. Apparently, rugby great Mike Tindall, along with a slew of rugby and sports management types are launching an F1-style rugby championship worldwide. To me, it also sounds a little like the NBA where players commit to a franchise.

The format of the competition will be all-important. There must be clear winners and losers, culminating in a playoff and grand final. Anything else will not work from a TV audience perspective. 

And they'd be wise to keep the game old-fashioned, the way the NBA has to a certain extent by keeping with the traditional orange leather ball, and having tip-offs for play restarts. But one innovation they could try is having two referees on the field, the way rugby league did in the NRL from 2009 to 2020. There are too many stoppages in rugby these days, while the crooked video ref decides who has paid him the most to make the call. You need decisions made there and then.

Another suggestion: stop with changing the rules every year, it is getting hard to keep up with all the various interpretations of the 'laws' of the game. The game has potential to really entertain but the pressure will be to make rugby look like American football, and doing so would be a big mistake. 

For players, it comes down to price tags, the new organisation appears to be trying to keep international rugby onside by looking at player windows; they'd be wise to just think about what suits them, not other organisations which are rivals at the end of the day.

https://www.cityam.com/red-bull-eyes-franchise-in-r360-rugby-breakaway-league/

NZ Rugby Grassroots Jettisoned

In what must be seen as some kind of corporate takeover of NZ Rugby, sweeping changes have been proposed to the governance structure of the game in New Zealand.

Provincial unions, the heartland of the game will be sidelined and a new Council will rule the game as a supreme all-knowing and all-seeing entity, answerable to itself only, and dictating everything to the provinces.

Are you going to take this lying down provincial NZ?

Dame Patsy Reddy threatened to resign if the proposals weren't adopted. Who cares, she's a softly spoken nincompoop. Tell her to leave.

The obvious answer to what is going on in the game of Rugby in NZ; tell them to go heave, leave and set up your own governance structure. Leave NZ Rugby an orphan child, with no pathway to its representative teams, much like the Harlem Globetrotters, remember them?

https://www.barrons.com/news/new-zealand-rugby-plans-sweeping-once-in-a-generation-reform-df85e1cc

Rugby Explained to a German

With the Rugby World Cup final looming, a German visiting Ireland wrote to the local newspaper looking for an explanation of the rules. Here's the response:

Rugby World Cup 2023 Semi-Final: England v South Africa

South Africa have pipped England to advance to the final of the Rugby World Cup, where they'll face New Zealand's powerful All Blacks. I notice England fans are criticising the New Zealand referee, and claiming their side was better.

That's not how I saw the match. England lacked creativity and relied on their defense while on attack they were kicking all the time. Their defense held well, but they ended up giving away possession, so while they often held field position, they were unable to capitalise on it.

South Africa were clearly the better team, but they were their own worst enemy at times. When in possession they'd often cough the ball up, giving England the ball. Thus, when you look at the game stats, you'll see England had more possession, but South Africa made the clean breaks, and beat defenders.

Crucially, South Africa scored the only try. This came after they brought on replacements which actually improved their team performance. They got better with replacements, while England got worse with theirs.

Another factor must be fatigue. It has been a long tournament with many days between games. South Africa have had tougher games, while England have had an easier run. South Africa looked tired.

Will this matter in the final? New Zealand have an extra day's rest, and their semi-final was a stroll in the park. They should be fresher and have had the advantage of seeing what South Africa bring. Clearly, the final will be a tough encounter, but NZ must go in as favorites given they don't appear so tired.

South Africa 16 v England 15

RWC 2019 Semi-Final England v New Zealand

England beat New Zealand 19-7. The All Blacks were thoroughly outplayed, the score flattered them. England were completely dominant, they read the NZ game well and effectively shut down the All Blacks possession. It's hard to think of a single thing NZ did well, apart from restricting the rate of England scoring, getting lucky at times with referee decisions that went their way.

For England, it's on to the final and facing either Wales or South Africa. My pick is for South Africa to take Wales out and go on to win the tournament.

NZ will need to re-think their approach, clearly the better nations have caught up and now have them figured out.

RWC 2019 Quarter-Finals

Rugby World Cup quarter-finals have gone the way people would expect; England easily dispatched Australia 40-16 (I got this one wrong), then in a thoroughly dominant display New Zealand's All Blacks crushed Ireland 46-14. The All Blacks were simply superb and if they maintain that form, they'll be marching into the final.

RWC 2019 - Japan beat Scotland

Japan have topped their group, going through unbeaten. In their last game they held on strongly to defeat Scotland. Earlier they beat Ireland as well, Japan have arrived on the world stage and surely now must be considered Tier 1.

The quarter-finalists are:

England v Australia
New Zealand v Ireland
Wales v France
Japan v South Africa

Based on current form, I'm picking the semi-finalists:

NZ v Australia
Wales v South Africa

And for the final:

NZ v South Africa

Cancelled Games: RWC 2019

Two games have been cancelled; they are All Blacks v Italy and England v France. The second of these wouldn't have caused a change in group outcomes, however the AB's v Italy game raises a question. It was possible that with a bonus point win, Italy could knock NZ out and South Africa and Italy go through. People are now crying favouritism.

Wait a minute, all teams knew the rules when they agreed to compete. What would be improper is changing venues at the last minute in order to engineer results. Tournaments by their nature have an air of uncertainty about them, so cancelling due to severe weather events is the only thing the organisers can do and remain impartial.

Typhoon Threatens Rugby World Cup Results

A Pacific Ocean typhoon called Hagibis is currently on course to disrupt the final Rugby World Cup group-stage matches. The tournament allows for washouts, each team receiving 2 points. Here's the rub; if the final games involving Ireland are affected, then Ireland could be eliminated. The number 2 team in the world could be out. Oh no.

Well, the organisers of the Rugby World Cup are planning to move the final Ireland game against Samoa to somewhere unaffected. What? The teams knew the rules when they entered the competition. The rules are meant to apply to every team equally. Get the feeling the tournament is rigged? Read about it here:

https://www.rte.ie/sport/rugby-world-cup-2019/2019/1007/1081517-irelands-final-pool-game-threatened-by-typhoon/

Rugby World Cup 2019 Heating Up

The 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan is proving to be a close tournament. We've had two major upsets, the first was Uruguay beating Fiji, but then Japan beat Ireland the world's second ranked team. Now we have Wales beating Australia. Wales have never won a world cup while Australia has won two. If this continues, New Zealand's All Blacks will cruise to their third straight world cup, as the strong opponents will be weakened, eliminated or find themselves on the wrong side of the draw.

Rugby World Cup 2019

The Rugby World Cup is under way, exciting times indeed. I'm a supporter of the All Blacks, a team I never want to see lose. Just as well, as in fact, they rarely lose. Yay.

But even I can see this world cup is heavily stacked in favour of the All Blacks, and South Africa. That comes down to the structure of the tournament and what amounts to a very weak pool New Zealand and South Africa find themselves in. Not only that, but the pool's first and second place was essentially decided by the first game between the All Blacks and South Africa. 

Both teams are guaranteed a place in the quarter-finals where they're almost certain to advance as they'll play teams they'll probably beat. New Zealand will likely be playing Scotland, a team it has never lost to. South Africa will likely play Ireland, a team you'd fancy South Africa beating.

Across the competition you can find other situations that are less than ideal. For instance England are slated to win their pool, but then they'll either play Australia or Wales in their quarter-final. England could easily be out at that stage, not even making the semi-final.

What's the problem? As I see it the problem is with the way the game is structured globally, not just with the structure of this tournament which follows a familiar and popular pattern; pools, then knock-outs leading to a final.

Structurally, Rugby is not like Soccer (Association Football), the lesser teams are locked out and cannot develop. Unlike Soccer, where any team can beat any other team on the day, Rugby is an elitist game and the powerful countries entrench their position at the top. 

Solving this problem requires grassroots reform. That means international competitions with promotion and relegation. In this scenario Russia, Georgia and Japan would be able to qualify for the Six Nations; or Tonga, Fiji and Samoa qualifying to play in the southern hemisphere's Rugby Championship. Then when these teams get to the world cup, have a structure where losing a game may end up losing a life, not immediate elimination. This also allows pathways for lesser teams to advance. Whatever, the obvious bias has to be addressed as Rugby will stall in terms of global following if not corrected.

Crusaders Region Rugby

The Crusaders region is still on top in New Zealand rugby. The Tasman Mako are top of the Mitre10 Cup Premiership, their latest victory today's 64-8 romp over Manawatu. On the same day Nelson College beat Christchurch Boys' High School to secure the UC Championship for the Crusaders region 1st XV's, a 35-31 victory. Nelson College are also the Quadrangular Tournament champions for 2019, defeating Whanganui Collegiate in the final held in Wellington. Quadrangular is NZ's most prestigious 1st XV rugby tournament played each year between NZ's top four high schools (I discuss the importance of this tournament and these schools in my book Snob's Guide to New Zealand, link on toolbar above).

World Rugby League

The proposed new annual championship in rugby union appears to shaft the small Pacific nations and eastern Europe. It is no surprise it includes Japan and the USA, they're put in for the money, even though their playing strength is not good enough.

The main problem with the format of 12 nations in two groups of six, is that there is no pathway for other countries to emerge. In other words there is no promotion/relegation. Not even relegation play-offs. To illustrate look at the current world rankings:

1.   New Zealand
2.   Ireland
3.   Wales
4.   England
5.   South Africa
6.   Australia
7.   Scotland
8.   France
9.   Fiji
10. Argentina
11. Japan
12. Georgia

But the new championship would play the existing Six Nations against the southern hemisphere Rugby Championship with Japan and USA added to the latter. That means Italy as part of the Six Nations get in permanently from their position of 15, over the top of Georgia (#12).

Meanwhile Fiji (#9) are topped by Japan (#11) and USA (#13). Basically, it's absurd and if implemented, rugby administrators will be made to look like laughing stocks.

Here's an answer: why not have a 10 team league made up of a 5 team northern hemisphere and 5 team southern hemisphere conferences, like this:

Northern

Ireland
Wales
England
Scotland
France

Southern

New Zealand
Australia
South Africa
Fiji
Argentina

Within each conference they play each other once (4 games each), then the top two in each conference play semi-finals against the top two from the other conference, followed by the final. For the finalists that's 6 games. If things go the way of rankings it should end like this:-

Ireland v Australia
Wales v New Zealand

Final: Ireland v New Zealand

What about the bottom 6 teams?  They cross over and play for relegation. If the competition went according to rankings it would mean the bottom team from one conference playing the 3rd place from the other conference, and so on, so (an example):

England v Argentina
Scotland v Fiji
France v South Africa

The two worst teams from each hemisphere (this is not entirely fair but keeps the league balanced) in terms of tries scored and points differential then play a relegation game against the top team from the lower tier in their hemisphere. According to rankings like this:

France play a relegation game against Japan or Georgia
Argentina play a relegation game against Tonga, Samoa or Uruguay.

The team playing off for relegation would have played 6 games, the others 5 in total since the competition season started.

Naturally the lower tier could also have its own format for deciding who challenges.