No one in their right mind can argue timing of new rugby laws is fair
Steve Borthwick has not enjoyed the calmest of summers. The England head coach, off the back of consecutive narrow losses to New Zealand in July, has had to clean up a mess caused by the departure of two of his most senior coaches, Felix Jones in defence and Aled Walters as head of strength and conditioning.
Borthwick has had to put the finer points on the new Professional Game Partnership between England and the Premiership clubs, pick an Elite Player Squad – as well as decide which players will qualify for enhanced “hybrid” status – all the while preparing to face two of the four best rugby teams in the world in the space of 15 days in November: New Zealand on the first Saturday of the autumn internationals followed by the world champions, South Africa, two weeks later.
Borthwick’s historical first-choice scrum-half is injured, his first-choice fly-half from the Six Nations is a doubt, and he is still to replace Walters after a job-sharing agreement with Saracens’ Phil Morrow was blocked by Premiership clubs.
So, in the grand scheme of things, the England head coach could probably be forgiven for paying little attention to Friday’s announcement from the Six Nations, which runs the self-styled Autumn Nations Series, that this November’s fixtures would feature three law trials, two of which have already been implemented in the Rugby Championship.
Twenty-minute red cards for technical offences (more on this later), 30-second countdowns for scrums and line-outs (ditto), and a shot clock of 60 seconds for conversions and penalties (a demonstrably sensible idea), will all be in action for England’s matches at Twickenham against the All Blacks, Australia, the Springboks and Japan.
Borthwick might not have concerned himself too much with the announcement but he will have been within his rights to give it a thorough cross-examination.
In essence, the Premiership players who Borthwick selects in November will be playing with three new laws which have not been part of their daily grind in English rugby’s top flight, against New Zealand, the greatest rugby nation on earth, whose All Blacks have been steadily acclimatising themselves with the tweaks for the past six months, having narrowly defeated England in consecutive Tests in July.
Boiling it down to its most fundamental state, no one in their right mind could ever begin to argue that is fair. It might make no difference to the result, but that is not the point. The point is that it might make a difference to the result, and that perception – whether proven true or false – is a bad look for rugby union.
These law trials are not the most significant to have been introduced by World Rugby but yet again the lack of joined-up thinking in the sport is stark. The governing body’s hands are tied to a certain extent – clearly, there is a desire to push these law additions through swiftly from certain southern-hemisphere parties – but the timing is woeful.
The question is, would there have been a better time? Next April, arguably, but that might be too long a wait for certain unions under pressure from stakeholders to ensure that rugby’s spectacle is as appealing and engaging as it can be right now. And they could not have been introduced in the northern hemisphere club game at the start of the season because France and Ireland have publicly disputed elements of them.
This is all before debating whether these introductions are even necessary. As previously trailed, a shot clock to speed up conversions and penalties is an undoubtedly positive step for the sport, but the jury must remain out on the benefits of the other two introductions. Time will tell whether expediting the setting up of scrums and line-outs will work as intended. There is an argument that all it might do is expedite spinal injuries. Let us hope not. And, as any rugby statistician will tell you, red cards have had far less of a bearing on the result of rugby matches than many people – fans and executives included – will have you believe.
But perception is important. The problem with wanting to appear to speed up your product, however, is that you inadvertently appear more bonkers than ever. How would these law trials be received by the armchair supporter who, we are told, has become the most valuable and lucrative observer in the sporting world? Every sport is bending over backwards to convert the casual into the committed and yet, here is rugby again, with two of the best-known international sides in the world, facing off against each other in front of 80,000 people, with one set of players playing three new laws for the first time. Then, those same players will return to their clubs, where those rules are non-existent. The casual fan risks disillusionment and bamboozlement.
Borthwick will be too occupied with preparations for the three southern-hemisphere giants to expend much energy and emotion on this, but he would be right to feel aggrieved – no matter the results next month.