Rugby: France and Beyond

[Which Tyler]

Lesson #1, in "how to receive a red card, without playing"

https://twitter.com/user/status/1769018174794526888

[ljkeane]

Courageous defensive performance from Scotland but they never really got anything going in attack until right at the end. I like Christie, good player.

Slightly deflating last couple of games for Ireland but they have been the best side in the tournament this year so deserved the Six Nations win.

 I haven’t seen the game yet but good to see things starting to come together for Italy. They’ve had a pretty good youth set up for a while but it looks like it’s really starting to pay off at senior level.

[Iskaral Pust]

Winning the 6N but not clinching a historic second consecutive grand slam seems a fair outcome for Ireland.  They started excellently in the tournament but faded in the last two games.  The disruptions to the back three were a problem to cover.  But winning the 6N under the circumstances was a very good outcome: without Sexton, with a WC quarterfinal exit hangover, and with away matches to England and France on the schedule.

Scotland defended fiercely but didn’t offer much in attack.  Huw Jones scored a good individual try late on when Irish arms and minds seemed too tired for basic defending.  But Ireland had comfortably controlled the second half until then, after a lackluster first half.  I thought the Furlong try should have stood, which would have made the scoreboard more comfortable.  There were several poor handling errors that ended attacks and disrupted the flow.  The handling errors and lineout errors really grew as the tournament progressed.

The overall challenge is lack of depth in the squad.  Crowley doesn’t come close to replacing Sexton but let’s see how he develops.  Byrne showed why he would only be fourth choice fly half but for injuries.  We have no idea who should be our scrum half or back-up as JGP and Murray age out.  Keenan and Hanson were very difficult to replace.  We really lack a fast “finisher” winger like Penaud or DVDM, and we lack some nimbleness and speed at #8 and center.  Ben Earle’s rampaging performances or Scotland’s speedy and powerful centers would be nice to have.  Doris, Aki, Ringrose and Henshaw all have great strengths but the aggregate (with Ringrose missing) lacks some pace.

Opponents are evolving their defenses for Ireland.  We’ll have to keep evolving too.  We have some tough fixtures for the summer and autumn but we should use those to experiment and evolve.

[ljkeane]

England's performance in Lyon was a lot less accurate than the game against Ireland, probably not helped by the early injury to Furbank, and the errors did cost them but they still showed a fair bit of promise. Scoring 4 tries and losing to a late, moderately harsh, penalty is a hell of a lot better than their last performance against France. Fair play to the coaching team, I was really down on things at the start of the tournament but it's really turned around.

In terms of where they go from here I think Daly's probably reaching the end of the road. He's just not got the pace he used to have and they could do with a more dynamic winger than Daly is these days. Feyi-Waboso was a bit of a revelation when he played and England have other options too. In the centres Slade probably was the form English centre coming into the tournament and he's been ok but I think England do need to look to move on. If we could find a proper 12 and start playing Lawrence at his more natural position of 13 that'd be nice.

France still have the best talent pool of rugby players, certainly in Northern Hemisphere rugby anyway, and it really showed whenever England errors gave them broken play to attack in. England, after dealing pretty well with both Ireland and South Africa's forwards in recent meetings, really struggled with the power in the French pack too. They just seem to have collectively really lost their focus post World Cup for this Six Nations though. Also Ramos defending in the front line is a problem.

[Padraig]

Yes.  Weird to be a little down hearted by a championship success but we started on a high and its been downhill since then.  And even that high against France was probably a lot due to their WC hangover.  The Scottish game was frustrating to watch.

So, lots of questions.  It will be curious to see what happens on the tour to South Africa in the summer.

[Which Tyler]

https://www.world.rugby/news/916218/world-rugby-reveals-phased-plan-to-enhance-rugbys-global-appeal

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First phase: Law Application Guidelines reinforcing existing law

From 19 March, there will be an expectation of strict application of current law by referees globally via the following Law Application Guidelines, focusing on speeding up play:

    Law 15.17: Players will be expected to use the ball more quickly when the ball has been secured at a ruck/breakdown. Referees will be asked to call "use it" earlier, which will begin the five second count to play the ball away.

    Law 19.10: Hookers will be expected to maintain a full brake foot to aid scrum stability and safety during the engagement sequence. Any adjustment must maintain the act of the brake.

    Law 6.29: Strict reinforcement of the 2022 law trial relating to water carriers entering the field of play.

 

Hear hear on all of those - the laws exist, just apply the damned things!

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Second phase: Law amendment recommendations for global adoption  

A package of law amendments will be considered by the World Rugby Council at its 9 May meeting. Each is aimed at enhancing game continuity:

    Recommendation to make adjustments to Law 10 in relation to players being put onside when there are kicks in open play, as per the current Super Rugby Pacific trial which aims to reduce kick tennis.

    Removal of the scrum option from a free-kick at a scrum, reducing dead time.

    Outlawing the practice of the 'croc roll', reinforcing player welfare focus

 

I know I'm in a minority on this, but I don't particularly like the idea of completely removing the clause about being played onside by the opponents - adapt it, sure, but not simply remove (I'd say to actively retreat (no slowest-walk-ever competitions) to their own half, &/ allow 10m rather than 5m of ball movement to be put back onside.

Not scrummaging off a scrum free-kick seems... fine, I guess (I'd rather downgrade SOME scrum penalties to FC whilst we're at it, but freely admit that I don't know what's happening in scrums)

Wait - I thought the Croc roll was already illegal?

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Third phase: Closed law trials

Unions and competition owners will be encouraged to implement a package of closed law trials which can be adopted at domestic or cross-border level, aimed at enhancing game continuity:

    Expansion of the shot clock for scrum and lineouts and reduced kicking time.

    Ability to mark the ball inside the 22m line from a restart, promoting attacking options.

    The ball must be played after the maul has been stopped once, not twice.

    Protection of the nine at the base of the scrum, ruck and at the maul following successful trials in Major League Rugby in the USA and in elite and community competitions in New Zealand.

    Play on for lineout not straight if the throw in is uncontested.

 

"Shot clock" expansion seems fine, been asking for something similar for a while. Of course, it'll just mean that every set piece, someone takes a knee and gets some ice spray whilst they talk tactics, but at least the clock will be off - 80 minute game is soon going to take 180 minutes to complete!

I'd rather make marks harder and less frequent than allowing more of them - but I guess they want to stop the ruck, caterpillar, clear sequence.

Is anyone (not Australian) that put off by mauling?

Protect the SH at the scrum - yes, absolutely - stop those silly bollockses just tackling each other whilst the ball is tied up. Stop the defending SH advancing beyond the hips of the flanker would do that, whilst keeping him close enough to tackle a pick and go for 8 or 9 down his channel.

For rucks and mauls, if your SH needs more protection, then it's your forwards' job to provide it. I guess I'm happy to try things, but am instinctively against these bits.

Yes please. Just throw someone up, and make sure they can't cheat (too much).

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Fouth phase: Specialist working groups

Specialist working groups will be established to further explore aspects identified by the Shape of the Game forum for further consideration. Recommendations will be made to Council. 

    On- and off-field sanctions: Comprehensive review of the sport's disciplinary and sanctioning processes with the objective of streamlining, increasing simplicity, consistency and fan understanding. A key consideration will be the potential to combine stronger off-field sanctions for foul play with a global red card trial where a carded player is removed for the duration of the match but may be replaced by another player after 20 minutes. The final proposal will go to World Rugby's Council in May.

    Tackle/Ruck/Breakdown: A major review of safety and spectacle issues as they relate to the breakdown, e.g. the impact of contesting the ball on the floor, jackal as opposed to an upright driving game.

    Television Match Official (TMO) protocol: Determine the optimal remit for the TMO protocol, while setting new minimum standards for technology providers.

    Replacements: Examine the latest research on the impact of fatigue and the number and timing of replacements in the elite game to determine options that might create more space on the field while improving injury rates.

    Fan experience: Build rugby's attention share via a fan-focused view of how the game is marketed, a consistent approach to presentation of the sport across all media environments and a focus on the moments in the game that really engage fans. This will include a thorough review of the language and terminology that is used within the game.

    Tackle height: Consider the results of the community tackle height trials across 11 unions and consider appropriateness for elite rugby.

 

Consistency in the disciplinary process can only be a good thing

Please stop those shoulder charges into static and defenceless players (I believe there's already a law covering this, 9.11 "Dangerous Play" - just add it to the examples given

TMO remit should be being tinkered with quarterly anyway

Replacements - interesting, no idea how that's likely to come out.

Fan Experience - ref-mic would be the big one, broadcast it to any radio app.

Tackle height - this should really be in phase two - to be applied in the next season after May 9th meeting. Why the hell isn't it?

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Fifth phase: Examine impact of specific aspects of the game in new Rugby Labs

New Rugby Labs, which enable World Rugby to test out new aspects of law in a controlled environment evaluated by data and player feedback, will be utilised to examine the impact of aspects of the game that either have an impact on speed or safety. These are likely to include the scrum engagement sequence and the tackle/ruck area.

Wait and see, I guess

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Puja
I still stand by my suggestion of outlawing kicking the ball from a breakdown - the ball must be passed or carried outside of 5 metres radius from a breakdown before a kick can be made. Sure, it'll mean a lot of kicks currently made by the 9 will just be made by the 10 instead, but passing the ball at least means something could happen, whether that's a fumble, or the 10 seeing something's on, or a charge down. Right now, it's just another set piece and, unlike the others, one where competition for the ball isn't allowed.

I've always liked this suggestion (no bias from being a SH who hated box kicks); I also like the suggestion of "no players (either team) can be added to the ruck once the ref has called that the ball is won.

[ljkeane]

On 3/20/2024 at 12:46 PM, Which Tyler said:

Wait - I thought the Croc roll was already illegal?

Neck rolls are illegal, you can still roll someone out of the ruck so long as you don't hold on to their head or neck to do it. I'm not sure I agree with that one. I get that people some people really don't like it, if the jackaler gets their foot caught in the ground it can mess up their knee or ankle pretty badly, but if you take the option to roll them out away it really only leaves smashing them as hard as you can as a way to remove someone in a strong position over the ball. I'm not sure that's exactly what you want to encourage.

On 3/20/2024 at 12:46 PM, Which Tyler said:

Not scrummaging off a scrum free-kick seems... fine, I guess (I'd rather downgrade SOME scrum penalties to FC whilst we're at it, but freely admit that I don't know what's happening in scrums)

I don't like that one either. Teams should be allowed to use having a good scrum as a weapon if they want. The likely result of this is teams with worse scrums would 'accidentally' pre engage in situations they don't want to scrum in. 'Oh no, we've given away a free kick!'.

On 3/20/2024 at 12:46 PM, Which Tyler said:

Yes please. Just throw someone up, and make sure they can't cheat (too much).

I do like this one. If you're not competing for the ball why are you getting rewarded for the throw not being down the middle for your non existent jumper to compete for. I think often refs do lean this way anyway but you might has well make it explicit.

[Iskaral Pust]

Leinster finally see off LaRochelle with a pretty comprehensive victory.  Five tries by Leinster, even with LaRochelle’s goal-line defense stopping more.

It was a big concern for Keenan to withdraw shortly before the game, leaving Frawley and Larmour as the back two, and no backfield cover on the bench.  On to the semifinal.

[ljkeane]

I was going to post that Leinster had finally broken their La Rochelle hoodoo. Their defence was probably the most impressive thing about it. They’ve been on top at times in the previous games but La Rochelle gradually worked their way in front, they were never in the game today.

Looks like they’ll be playing Northampton in the semifinal. I suspect Northampton won’t be good enough to beat Leinster, in defence at least, but they’re quite an interesting side in attack. Pretty much everyone bases their attack around pulling defences out of shape through multiple phases these days. Saints are really all about running strike plays whenever they can. It should be fun anyway.

Probably the most impressive win today though was Harlequins going to Bordeaux and winning 41-42. I definitely didn’t see that coming.

[Iskaral Pust]

Leinster just announced that they’re signing Jordie Barrett on a short term contract.  It sounds like it will just be a short term coverage role while all of Leinster’s backs are called up by Ireland, and it’s a short term adventure the player wanted to try.

Munster fans are up in arms about Leinster receiving disproportionate financial backing from the IRFU, although my understanding is that Leinster have much higher revenues than the other provinces because of the Aviva stadium.  I’ll need to investigate this rabbit hole of Irish rugby club financing.

[Which Tyler]

https://inews.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/billy-vunipola-tasered-arrest-3029862
 

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England rugby star Billy Vunipola ‘tasered’ during Spanish bar arrest
Eight officers apprehend Saracens forward after he threatened staff and customers with bottles and chairs, according to local reports

Innocent until proven guilty etc

Edited Monday at 09:24 AM by Which Tyler

[Iskaral Pust]

Leinster, prioritizing the European Champions Cup over the URC, sent the kids to South Africa for the past two rounds of the URC and were duly well beaten in both matches.  They did the same last year, which meant they were fresh for a comprehensive victory over Toulouse in the European semifinal, but then narrowly lost to LaRochelle in the final anyway for a second consecutive year, and saw the URC slip away too.

They’ve already defeated LaRochelle this year, but still have to overcome Northampton and probably Toulouse. 

[ljkeane]

11 hours ago, Which Tyler said:

https://inews.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/billy-vunipola-tasered-arrest-3029862
 

Innocent until proven guilty etc

He was fined about £200 and it was left at that apparently so the original incident presumably wasn't that serious. Getting tasered twice probably wasn't a lot of fun though.