thegimble wrote:Ever since South Africa won the world cup against England teams have followed both teams style of play. Which is if your in your own half with the ball kick it aways as soon as possible and get out of your own half. ITs now become a safety game where teams are scared of giving penalties away in their own third of the field as its basically a 3 point giveaway.
Watched the first half of the Wales v Oz game and Oz were by far the better team yet Wales were still in touch at half time only 11 points down at 12-23 because they kicked 4 penalties. It was a total misrepresentation of the domination Oz had. Oz had the right number of points on the board for their efforts but there is no way Wales deserved 12 points.
Hardly any team will now atack from their own half unless they have to and its gettting bogged down. Teams are now entering the field with the attitude of not losing a game.
Just like to remind the many on here that a certain Shaun Edwards is involved in the welsh and wasps set up and both seemes to play the safety method now instead of letting the players use the ball.
Edwards is defensive coach for Wales so if its safety first on attack I can't see how he is to blame.
Read this:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_u ... 385424.stm
for some interesting quotes from Edwards on defense and comments from others on kicking.
Edwards: "Australia's defence was magnificent," he said. "The tackler was incredibly proactive and it wasn't just the back row but from one to 15. Even the scrum-half was very dynamic over the ball."
He is right. Their tackling was very good and you can tell he wants Wales to be the same.
As to kicking some telling comments in that article:
Gartland (Welsh head coach):
"Everyone talks about kicking - Australia kicked
40 times and we kicked
22 times.
"We try to play a bit of rugby by not kicking the ball away as much -
but it's not a winning performance is it?"
McBryde added: "There's a shift with regards to where you win possession, it's not necessarily from the set piece but
from kicks and gathering kicks."
Injured full-back Lee Byrne's
siege-gun boot was badly missed, and his stand-in James Hook - a converted fly-half whose creative skills could be utilised at centre in the Six Nations - acknowledged the changing demands of the modern game.
"Australia kicked an awful lot, there are some great kickers in their team," Hook told BBC Sport Wales.
"
[Kicking is a] big part of the game, there's nothing you can do about it at the moment.
"It's a bit frustrating [as a runner] but international rugby is about winning - and that's it really."
So there you go. The nickname we give to RU of "Kick and Clap" seems more appropriate now than ever before.
However they are considering changes:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/8375126.stm
From the article:
An RFU taskforce brought together in the wake of the 'Bloodgate' scandal suggested the introduction of
rugby league-style "rolling substitutions" as one possible way of dealing with the increasingly physical nature of the modern game.
In addition to player welfare, Thomas said the council would discuss the
preponderance of kicking in the game and the lack of tries in the Test arena this autumn. England, for instance, s
cored just one try in 240 minutes of rugby with a much-criticised win over Argentina the sole victory of an uninspiring campaign.
The number of reset scrums and the frequency of penalties at the breakdown area have also been cited as particular concerns for a sport that is keen to try to broaden its global appeal.
Dave
