From World Cup to Worcester
| 11:47 UK time, Friday, 26 October 2007
I have to admit, it's not been easy being Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú TV's rugby union editor these past six weeks.
While our colleagues in Radio 5 and on the have played their part in a great Rugby World Cup tournament, me and my team have felt a bit like - sitting on the sidelines trying not to get too grumpy or critical, but just wishing we were out there.
Fortunately for me, as rugby league editor too, I've had the distraction of a fabulous engage play-off series with highlights on the Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú. In fact I watched England beat France in a hospitality suite at Old Trafford after . But I've also watched every game of the sixth .
Of course being a of the rugby world inevitably finds me cast as an enemy by the Cyclops' in both rugby camps. I'll probably get a few more complaints after this one, but here goes.
Rugby union needs some surgery to stop it becoming boring at the highest level....there I've said it. I'll start backsliding rapidly. I don't mean it's not fascinating if you appreciate the "arm-wrestle" as so many of us call it. I don't mean to criticise the huge, tough athletes who are belting seven kinds of you-know-what out of each other, and I don't think there are easy answers to this one.
To illustrate my point - picture this scene. You are watching a World Cup quarter/semi/final in a pub full of new England fans. England are picking and driving, trucking but not losing its trailer, churning out phases, eking out yard after yard...as my more myopic League friends say - it's like the days of unlimited tackles. Finally the ref blows his whistle...pause...penalty to England...raucous cheers.
Or here's a fact. In the there have been just five tries but 39 penalties kicked. Unfortunately a combination of fitter athletes, better defensive organisation and the ability to throw on seven substitutes means that risk-taking rugby is exactly that - not the percentage call and therefore not on display when there's everything to play for.
We all admired , but it was largely based on belting the ball high and a terrific, marauding pack. Until last Friday when, encouraged by France, the shackles came off in the 3rd/4th game and the . This was the best game of the last two weeks - and, of course, the one with least to play for.
Every Pom's favourite Aussie, John O'Neill, has said Union must learn from League: "We need to create space, we want to create a philosophy that encourages try-scoring. We had two very poor semi-finals and a final in which there were no tries scored".
In reply to this the Aussie-Bok Eddie Jones said: "There's nothing wrong with the game. When you're playing for a big prize you're sometimes going to play simple rugby. We've got to be careful we don't change the game just because we want entertainment".
The IRB though are concerned. Law changes designed to create space and reduce the impact of the penalty kick are already being trialled in the Southern hemisphere. This is encouraging because change is needed for the game at the highest level.
Sorry... I said I was grumpy.
Anyway, this week live with the start of the EDF Energy Anglo-Welsh Cup.
We have two matches this weekend, which will also be on the website. John Inverdale is back from Paris and at Sixways on Saturday for Worcester v Ospreys (Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú ONE, 2.20pm).
Jonathan Davies, Jeremy Guscott, Eddie Butler, Brian Moore and Austin Healey are all there too and after the match from 4.30pm we'll have a special World Cup forum on Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Úi to debate things like the removal of flankers and lineouts to make Union more watchable...only joking!
On Sunday we'll be at the Memorial Ground (Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú TWO, 3.00pm) for Bristol v Llanelli Scarlets.
And don't forget it's this sort of Cup football that made England the battle-hardened, grumpy warriors that allowed them to turn things round in France. And don't get me started on the video ref...
One thing that did cheer me up was the great news that the Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú has extended its contract with the RBS Six Nations through to 2013. That means that EVERY game will be live and exclusive on Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú TV.
Thanks for your reaction to this news on the blog. As Roger Mosey says; I do read them all!
Hey it's good to be back.
