Rugby College: why rugby union needs to keep an eye on the clock

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Yet for every one aficionado who will be going to Homebush, there are hundreds who will prefer to watch the Test from home. They drive cars, they even drive them to the western suburbs, theyâ€™re that rich. Itâ€™s just that they arenâ€™t keen to pay to watch scrums being packed and re-packed, injuries being tended to, kicks being lined up and taken, referees discoursing to front rows, or players simply pausing en masse to take a drink. All while the clock keeps running. They just arenâ€™t keen to pay such high prices to watch 38 minutes of play.

The rule changes for the National Rugby Championship, altering the points for penalty goals and conversions, and several other abstruse matters, may or may not have the desired effect on cynical play, may or may not be adopted by the International Rugby Board (and pigs may or may not fly), and may or may not reduce the impact of referees on results, but in spirit they show a code that is waking up to the 21st century. They have been made in response to public petitioning. Rugby, or at least Australian rugby, is listening. As the fourth-rating football code, it has no other choice.

Ewen McKenzieâ€™s selection of Kurtley X. Beale no doubt has nothing to do with staving off the leaguies or jazzing up the Wallabiesâ€™ style of play. Itâ€™s certainly a tough call on poor Bernard Foley, the Ed Cowan of Australian rugby. But if Bealeâ€™s selection were influenced by those crowd-pleasing factors, then all the better. You would almost pay to watch him. Maybe just not quite as much as is being asked.

Australian rugby is doing the right thing, growing a pair of ears. What it needs now is to grow a thumb, and stick it on the stop button when the ball is out of play. The AFL fits 80 minutes of play into 130 minutes, and gives the public value for its money. Rugby league and football keep the ball in play and stop the clock wherever possible. For many of those who are not travelling to Homebush, three words could redeem rugby and make those ticket prices more justifiable: Stop, The, and Clock.

Friday, 15 August 2014

why rugby union needs to keep an eye on the clock

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