Coaches to blame for rugby-law tinkering

OPINION: With all of the navel gazing about the perilous state of rugby at the moment, few, if any, commentators are targeting the real culprits.

There have been some positives this year following yet another change to the law interpretation at the breakdown. However, the change has brought some unwanted consequences as a result.

The latest law correction has seen the pendulum swing massively in favour of the attacking side, with the result that we have seen games resembling basketball on grass rather than rugby. This incessant tinkering with the laws and their interpretations is caused by a single group – so-called professional rugby coaches.

Ever since the game went professional, coaches have had a detrimental effect on the game as they seek, by whatever means possible, to hang on to their well paid jobs. They have determined how the game will be played, irrespective of the laws.

In particular they have decided that the best way to operate at the breakdown is for numerous players to go off their feet, slow the ball down and generally engage in all-in wrestling. Not for them adherence to the ruck and maul laws which you may be surprised to learn have not changed for years.

They are so fearful of losing that the game more often than not resembles Aussie rules. This is because coaches are so lacking in positive invention that they adopt a negative approach wherever possible. This is evident in their fear of taking the ball into contact, especially in their own half.

Have you also noticed how halfbacks resemble gridiron quarterbacks as the ball is held in the back row for 30 seconds or more as they martial their behemoths to try and grab ground, inches at a time. Great for coaches, bad for the game.

A modern day refrain is that there is no longer any room on the field to mount sustainable attacks. That should not come as much of a surprise as the backs are stacked with forwards for most of the game. Indeed most coaches are now opting for huge backs, which makes the situation even worse.

I am sure it will not be long before an international coach picks 20 forwards and two halfbacks in their squads such is their lack of ability to conjure up genuine attacking options. Perhaps the first coach to do that will be Martin Johnson, such is the paucity of backline talent at his disposal in England. It will be a sad day when there is no place for a magician like Shane Williams, of Wales.

The International Rugby Board (IRB) are not blameless in this situation either. They have allowed themselves to be pushed about by a series of influential coaches. They recently showed a complete lack of leadership when they invited coaches and players to have an input into the shambles that was the Experimental Law Variations (ELVs).

Coaches and players should not form any part of working parties for the game's laws. That is the job of the IRB, who employ many experts in this area including our own Paddy O'Brien and Leigh Smith. Coaches should be advised to coach to the laws or find some other sport to stuff up.

Professional rugby has an awful lot to answer for when it comes to the state of the modern game. It has sucked the lifeblood out of the community game, not just in terms of raw finances but also the negative effect it is having on the vast army of volunteers, without whom the game would die.To lift and maintain interest in the game coaches have to lift theirs. If they don't fully understand their role they may wake up one day and find there is no longer a game to coach.

David Moffett is a former chief executive for the New Zealand and Wales rugby unions.

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