Rolling subs the first step towards American football
Spare a thought for our rugby-playing elite this cold St Stephen's Day. Much like the way it is with football across the water, high-profile rugby matches are now central to the Festive season. The professional fraternity here have embraced it seamlessly and it is now part and parcel of what they do.
Local derbies whet the appetite and this afternoon Thomond Park and the RDS will be heaving with atmosphere.
Rugby union has come a long way in its relatively short professional life. It still has much catching up to do given the head start rugby league and football have had. Like everybody else, I look forward to the 'inter-provincial segment' of the Magners League season. The intensity of the rivalry naturally adds to the level of appeal but it is box office rugby with a warning.
Far be it for me to be a killjoy, but I genuinely worry for the welfare of our players. The record of the IRFU in protecting its centrally contracted employees stands tall; certainly when compared to the French and English ruling bodies, who at best share responsibility with their constituent clubs. Is it any wonder so few Irish venture abroad?
So far the Irish Union has got the balance just about right but rugby, like every other business in these difficult recessionary times, needs money and maintaining standards means playing more matches. It is a simple formula, more matches means more money, but the built-in downside is more injuries.
Players now are bigger, fitter and stronger than ever before. Modern-day midfield backs are at least the equivalent in height and weight to second-row forwards of a bygone age. Today's power-packed players hit with a frightening ferocity. To really appreciate the power at contact, view a match at ground level when next that opportunity arises. It truly is the immovable object meeting the irresistible force on or around the gain line.
Combinations
And with the increasing number of matches has come the call for rolling subs. To me, and it is not a generational thing, it defeats the whole purpose of team sport. How long before rugby becomes the equivalent of American football, with offensive combinations replacing defensive lines depending on field position at differing times in a match?
Crazy though that might sound, rolling replacements is the first undeniable step in that direction. If we want to become like American football -- a sport that does little for me -- then we might as well start providing players with all that protective gear.
Far from increasing replacements and developing rolling substitutions my preference would be for the reverse, with player welfare the key concern. The amount of replacements used, particularly front-row, should be kept at a minimum. The principle of wearing down the opposition is at the heart of all competitive sport. Once that vanishes then with it goes the mystique of team sport.
Wolves manager Mick McCarthy got flayed for fielding a shadow line-up at Old Trafford five days ahead of a must-win game at home to Burnley recently. But they did beat Burnley, so the end justified the means for McCarthy despite the anger expressed by those Wolves supporters who had travelled to Manchester.
The point being that if football must take such radical steps then what chance has rugby, especially with attrition rates being so much higher? The perfect balance has still to be struck, not alone between the hemispheres, but between countries, between clubs and, in some cases, between countries and clubs.
Each will promote its own agenda. That is the way of the world. For young men in their prime, all finely honed athletes, there is no tomorrow. Their sole interest is in the here and now. I too have been that soldier. But the game has a responsibility to its players and to their future welfare. More matches, more subs, all mean more injuries. Then what have we left?
dupuy's flimsy appeal puts game's credibility on the line
The decision of Julien Dupuy and Stade Francais to appeal the 24-week ban handed down for eye gouging is hardly surprising. Dupuy was found guilty not once but twice for scraping Stephen Ferris' eyes. The video evidence was damning and did little for the image of the sport.
I don't know the French scrum-half from Adam but whether it is Alan Quinlan, Shane Jennings or Schalk Burger who offends, the message from rugby's authorities must be clear. Eye gouging, like boot to head, is a no-go. When a player crosses that unacceptable line then the full punishments must apply.
Apparently Dupuy's appeal will be based on the inconsistency of sanctions to date. Whatever about the legal niceties, it is a morally corrupt defence.
For any player found guilty of a wrongdoing at the top end of the scale, six months should be the minimum expected, and accepted accordingly. Any other outcome to this appeal and rugby's disciplinary authorities may as well chuck it all in now.
A stand against unacceptable violence has been taken, it must be defended now to the hilt. Rugby's very credibility is on the line. The Harlequins 'Bloodgate' scandal did untold damage and at just about the same time as Test match official Willie Roos was resigning from refereeing and retiring from the sport in South Africa. Roos was the victim of abuse and had a drink flung in his face in Kimberley following a Currie Cup match.
The referee is taking legal action against his assailant but, irrespective of that outcome, the game is unequivocally the loser.
The South African Rugby Union, much like the IRFU and every other major governing body around the world, is working tooth and nail at recruiting young referees.
Respect for the neutral arbitrator has long been the golden rule of rugby. If judicial decisions are questioned and disciplinary sanctions overturned (allowing of course for the right to appeal) on the flimsiest defence then ultimately it is respect for authority that is being eroded.
It is all too easy for coaches and players to blame referees for the failings of their team. Referees deserve the utmost credit for what they do. In this country we are served by some of the best match officials around, led by Alain Rolland and Alan Lewis at the very top.
Rolland and former Shannon and Munster winger John Lacey are two former representative players leading by example when taking up the whistle upon playing retirement. We would do well to remember, at the end of this great rugby year, that without more young recruits like them we won't have a sport anymore.
- Tony Ward
Irish Independent
