Chiefs coach: Leave the game alone!
Exeter Chiefs director of rugby Rob Baxter has slammed World Rugby’s proposal for further law changes to attract new fans as “madness”.
Exeter Chiefs director of rugby Rob Baxter has slammed World Rugby’s proposal for further law changes to attract new fans as “madness”.
Rugby is meant to be played and officiated in real time, with the rules governing the scrum and the pace of a match perfectly fine as it is, writes MARK KEOHANE.
French international referee Mathieu Raynal said he would like to see a time limit imposed on scrums and fewer replacements as he announced his retirement from rugby.
Jake White questions whether the standard of Tier 1 nations have regressed, or if emerging nations have progressed with the support of World Rugby to be more competitive.
There’s good and bad (for the Boks) in World Rugby’s latest laws initiative, writes SIMON BORCHARDT.
Former Test referee Nigel Owens says World Rugby’s plan to introduce a 20-minute red card is a “kneejerk reaction” and doesn’t solve the issue of what constitutes a sending off.
World Rugby appears set to make a radical change to the set-piece laws that favours teams with a weaker scrum, affecting a core part of the Springboks’ World Cup double triumph.
SA Rugby’s support of the New Zealand-driven 20-minute red card makes little sense in the context of the changes that have happened at amateur and professional level in South Africa.
Sanzaar’s drive to introduce the 20-minute red card to Test rugby will reportedly go a World Rugby vote in May.
The Springboks’ position as the number one Test team has been strengthened after Ireland’s shock defeat to England, while Italy’s historic win in Rome has lifted the Azzurri to a best-ever position in World Rugby’s rankings.