It is very obvious that society has lost its common sense.
This has been highlighted in recent days by the farcical decisions being made by the refs at the Rugby World Cup. Of course these decisions have been made at the direction of the IRB (International Rugby Board) who are responsible for the plethora of law changes introduced in the past two or three years.
Many of the changes are for health and safety reasons — but totally ignore the fact that rugby is a physical contact sport and as such contact has to be made, in fact must be made if the game is to be played in any traditional shape or form.
These ridiculous laws are now the sole focus of the game and certainly provides for the overly egotistical refs to become the stars of the game. Oh, and this is at all levels of the game, not just at the World Cup.
Let’s suppose the All Blacks are in the final of this World Cup, and as happened against South Africa they receive two yellow or red cards, leaving the forward pack with six against the eight of the opposing team. Any scrum thereafter is certain to be overrun by the scrum containing eight forwards. Often this means forwards being pushed backwards lose their footing and go down in a very untidy heap of bodies, and possible injury. Where is the care and attention to health and safety when this sort of thing happens?
To expand on this issue let’s visit this scenario further. Here is the final and there is now one team with 15 players and one with 13 or 14. Is that fair — is that what this game is all about?
Where is the common sense in all these laws? Why is it that our rugby administrators — at all levels — can not learn some common sense and do as other codes do, and put a player on report, to appear before a judicial committee on Monday.
Stop penalising the rest of the team for any "so called" indiscretion. Of course in a final such a situation will affect not just the team, but a whole nation.
The game used to be a simple game with simple laws, not encumbered by refs roaring instructions at the forwards as to how to set a scrum. Roaring instructions on when to stay behind the line, in fact telling international players what the laws are — as the game progresses. The refs of today are the stars of the show — and they seem to love it. This is because of the stupid laws dictated to players and refs alike — laws devoid of any common sense.
The late Charlie Saxton wrote a book on the Simple Game of Rugby. In it he proposed the theory that the game was about ‘‘position, possession and pace’’. Nowadays the game has become brutal and ugly and the crowds are staying away in their thousands. One only has to view tapes of games played in the 1980s and ’90s, to see what exciting running rugby was like. The game has lost its way and the administrators are presiding over the death of our great game.
■Bill Thompson is a Dunedin rugby enthusiast.
