With the Autumn International series fast approaching, you
can already start to hear people screaming through the streets of Europe "
Argghh! The Southern Hemisphere is coming!" (Although admittedly in France
they’d say “Merde! Le Hemisphere Southern est arrivé!”) Rugby fans are pulling
their hair out at the prospect of turning the TV off after eighty minutes
whilst sighing and muttering those immortal words in sport: "So close…and
yet so far". The stress is beginning to get too much. Even our trees are
losing their leaves.
So whilst the teams from the Rugby Championship are
daunting, we only have ourselves to blame. Well, by 'us' I mean our rugby
system.
Professional rugby has meant that the gap between a player
and his opposite number's physical stature is no longer a sizable advantage.
Gym regimes and diets allow the modern rugby player to be sculpted by their
team's conditioner.
However the difference in their attacking ‘nous’ is as large
as the distance between the two rugby hemispheres. And, like the plates beneath
the continents, the gap is increasing. I'm not talking about individual skill
levels - in fact, the opposite. The exploitation of your opponents defence is
now key. Defences are stronger and attacking is harder.
The All Blacks are World Champions and rugby’s most feared
opponents because they do exactly this. They're ruthless. Give them an inch,
and they'll take a metre. Give them some space, and they'll score a try. The
writing's on the wall once you learn that their motto is "Subdue And
Penetrate"!
The key lies in a country's rugby ethos, and sadly the
South's grassroots of rugby is far greener than ours. Touch rugby is the sport
many southern hemisphere kids play in their free time, using jumpers to mark
out the pitch. This makes running with the ball in hand a much more natural
feeling.
So why should we act now? The northern hemisphere has looked
impressive at times and taken a few scalps - Scotland's wet win over Australia,
France reaching the 2011 Rugby World Cup final. We've come close haven't we?
Maybe not...
For example in the RBS 6 nations this year (Warning! Stats
alert!) a total of 3.1 tries were scored per game. This is the lowest figure
since the tournament began, with 75 tries scored each year from 2000-3,
compared to 46 in 2012. Arguably teams have improved (mainly Italy) to lower
this average, but a steady decline is still happening.
I propose the time has come to stop the rot on European
attack. But first, like an old wooden bench that's been out in the British
winter too long, the legs might need replacing. So let's start at the bottom.
An emphasis on Touch Rugby has to be made in British schools,
and age grade rugby should have tournaments during the summer. League tables
and divisions should be set up, and a more competitive attitude should follow.
Obviously touch tournaments exist, but the emphasis should be shifted to the
moment a child picks up a ball- instead of using the skilful game as a
fifteen-minute warm-up at training.
Anyway, who wouldn’t want a summer of rugby? What could be
better than a game of beach rugby? Everyone needs a break from the sport, but
it’s the perfect way to help children look up at a defence whilst running
straight with the ball in two hands. Only then can they exploit an overlap and
release the wide man.
Of course tackling and set pieces are what makes the game we
love so desirable. But what makes it great to watch is the attack, and thus the
act of scoring a try. We need to shorten the gap between the two hemispheres as
new laws are being trialled to create even quicker ball from rucks.
Bar touch rugby, the RFU should look at making age grade
rugby pitches wider, especially in tag rugby. This could encourage young
players to use the full width of the pitch. Perhaps tags should be removed from
the game completely. That would stop players from drifting across the pitch,
dodging any outstretched arms.
Another interesting solution could be weight classifications.
Physicality is important, but perhaps some leagues could remove the one large
ball carrier who has been running through the smaller kids all day. Instead,
put him (or her) in a team of similar sized players. That way they'll improve
as a player before they get to secondary education, by which time everyone else
has had their growth spurts. As a result, players are made to beat their
opposition at a young age by scoring tries as a team, rather than using that
one boy who hit puberty when he was in a nappy.
It's an idea, and many will disagree as rugby is made for
all shapes and sizes. But the sad fact is that Europe is not on the same
wavelength as their southern cousins. The northern hemisphere is ready for the physical
challenges this autumn. Instead it will be the mental challenges that will prove
the most daunting.
You can’t teach an old dog new tricks. And you certainly
can’t teach them how to score on an overlap.
Vive la revolution.
@bonuspoint
@bonuspoint
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