International Rugby
Andrew concerned by lack of spectacle
Scrum.com
December 2, 2009
Rob Andrew, the Rugby Football Union's Elite Director of Rugby, England v Scotland, Six Nations, Twickenham, England, March 21, 2009
Rob Andrew is concerned by the state of the game © Getty Images
Enlarge

Rob Andrew has warned the IRB that they risk driving spectators away from rugby unless they change the laws at the breakdown.

The RFU's director of elite rugby fired the warning after the sport's governing body ruled that there would be no change in the laws before the 2011 Rugby World Cup. As it stands a tackler is permitted to contest the ball should they be on their feet, with Andrew arguing that teams are now happier without the ball thanks to this permutation.

An average of only 2.2 tries were scored during the November Tests, although Australia and New Zealand showed plenty of attacking zeal in dispatching Wales and France respectively last weekend.

"I'm very concerned that attendances will start to decline unless changes are made. I think we're seeing it already," he said. "You just have to talk to people in the game, including some of the coaches who have said they're turning the TV off themselves when they're watching matches.

"There is a concern within the game. Now you're better off without the ball than with it, which isn't what rugby should strive for. The risk in keeping the ball hand is too large. There are some fascinating stats from this year's Tri-Nations, showing how little time South Africa had the ball yet they won the tournament.

"In one match against New Zealand they made the lowest number of team passes in any Tri-Nations match ever, yet still won. The New Zealand scrum-half made more than that on his own."

The IRB will review the laws of the game in 2010 but changes can now only be forced through due to player welfare issues. The RFU are compiling an extensive report in to injury figures but are running a season behind in terms of their data, making it extremely unlikely that the data will cause a shift in policy.

"We're very lucky in England that we have an amazingly loyal spectator base but you have to accept the trust they've put in," said RFU chairman Martyn Thomas. "We want to make sure they've left saying they've watched a great game of rugby and I'm concerned that's not going to happen.

"We're all in agreement that the spectacle of the game has changed and that's a concern. There's data to suggest that spectators are not comfortable with what's going on. Hopefully sense will prevail if attendances dive and the spectacle is not what it should be. Clearly the IRB have to look at that."

A special meeting of the Professional Game Board will be held on December 18 to review the first cut of the injury audit figures for last season, which have shown an increase in numbers.

© Scrum.com

Live Sports

Communication error please reload the page.