Overly conservative coaching

"Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new." ~ Albert Einstein

In rugby we constantly hear about cutting out mistakes. At half time teams who may be desperate for every second of injury time at the end of the match, happily kick the ball to touch to avoid any risk of playing rugby. Coaches aren't going to change, so should the IRB overhaul the laws of the game to drag forwards into rucks and mauls and give the backs more room?

So what's the try count like over the weekened through Pro12, AP and Top14?

Is it really all that bad? You have to work to get your tries in rugby union (and some years it gets tougher, some years easier) dending on how teams evolve to beat last season's top side. Effort forces coaches to work hard on tactics - why should the rule changes always keep offering them the space? Is it a game of skill or a game of easy routes to the tryline?

We say we need spectacle and that try scoring is the spectacle. I agree - it is...but it shouldn't be easy. Having to work damn hard is the reward, and the sense of relief a fan feels in rugby union when his team scores is due to that delicious quality of them not being scored every few minutes.

I agree with that, but to score now you almost have to cheat. The laws of the game are too complicated and almost impossible to enforce. Sorting that out is not necessarily contradictory to your point.

What do you think when a team kicks out as soon as they can for half time?

I think we all see the same pattern each season. Lots of tries on the opening weekend's in the fair weather, then winter sets in and everything gets a bit grim and tries are scared, then spring comes along and the tries are back.

The rules don't need much changing, if we want more tries then the season needs to be re shuffled.

Glas a du wrote:

What do you think when a team kicks out as soon as they can for half time?

Which game has you thinking about this, Glas. I'd assume your comments reference a particular game at the weekend? Needless to say, I didn't get to see them all so I could only give a general answer. I'd guess all teams do it (kick out for half time) or have done it at some point. Yeah, it can appear idotic sometimes (if the team is behind and yet in a good little moment of possession) but then it can appear like the very right thing to do too.

Those moments can annoy the fans who might have felt they'd benefit if the ball was kept alive. But as a fan, you've always had both emotions of any given incidents in rugby. We've all been in a position of shouting at our guys to kick the ball out and stop risking a turnover...and we've cursed the b******s who kicked it out.

If you want to ensure that forwards are tied in to rucks and mauls, and not lingering amongst the backs we can always revert to the laws of 20 years ago. Of course they were changed back then because law makers felt the maul was too dominant.

The back foot law is a nonsense. The breakdown is a mess because of it.

Glas a du wrote:I agree with that, but to score now you almost have to cheat. The laws of the game are too complicated and almost impossible to enforce. Sorting that out is not necessarily contradictory to your point.

What do you think when a team kicks out as soon as they can for half time?

Depends on the score/match situation of course. The article you wrote about the ball being kicked into the stands late in the 2nd half with the possibility of getting a bonus point is a different situation of course. It sounds as though there was barely any time left on the clock... but if it were a minute; then that player who kicked it was a complete dill.

On a slightly different note...
Like your article here says: https://www.606v2.com/t35545-patient-build-up - it not so much about 'building the blocks' for every gameplan. That is so boringly conservative and limited. Rugby is much more than that. There has to be a Plan B or C. Some flair too.

Sure, build the platform; attempt the (game plan) plays... but if you are going nowhere; then something else must be tried. Sometimes you need to take the risks - like the chip over the top & regather. I'm amazed that you seem so surprised. We see this all the time (at least a dozen times every weekend) in both of our codes. Like NZ (and to a large degree SA) it's part of our rugby style, identity or repertoire of necessary skill and it makes for a better spectacle.