Coaches need to take a more creative approach if rugby union hopes to hang on to its appeal

Published on Sunday 6 December 2009 23:27

WHILE not always in agreement with Rob Andrew or Allan Massie, both make valid points in advocating changes to improve rugby union as a spectator sport. Certainly if rugby union is not to become a 13-man game, as in rugby league, the status quo is not an option in attempting to attract larger crowds, the lifeblood of the professional game, to matches.

This is not simply a Scottish issue. The fact that generally, in rugby league, the ball is in play more, with considerably more points scored through tries than penalties, has led to more exciting matches for spectators and the relative success of rugby league in a country keen on sports such as Australia.

Astute changes in the rules of play will make a difference, but a more significant difference will occur when coaches, as advised by Allan Massie (Weekend Sport, 5 December), become more "inventive and imaginative". Again, as in the defensive strategies most rugby union teams now employ, the key would seem to be to learn from rugby league.

To break down strong defences there are two common plays in rugby league that still occur less frequently in rugby union. The first is the offload in the tackle to create space through which support players can run and the second is the smart use of the grubber kick.

In rugby union, most coaches in the UK still favour the simplistic use of brute force, sometimes allied with pace, to bash holes through defences. While such an approach may still enjoy success at club level, it will rarely work at international level where even our best players are generally likely to be inferior to those of countries with larger player bases.

What's more, this emphasis neglects the promotion of handling and kicking skills under pressure, so we invariably end up with our backs dropping the ball. This is particularly frustrating for supporters who have perhaps endured long periods of stagnant forward play, or a battle of aerial ping-pong, only to see the ball go to ground just when a few good passes have finally been strung together.

Many players can look good rehearsing set moves in low pressure training situations, only for their basic skills to fall down in the open play of closely contested matches. But simply accepting that this is justification for preferring brute force over clever and creative applications of good skills is not only letting down talented individual players and the Scottish Rugby Union, it is perhaps hastening the day when rugby league will be the more dominant international sport.

STAN GRODYNSKI

Longniddry

East Lothian

If football is entrenched now in negativity, then the state of Scotland rugby is no better. David Hamill (Sports Letters, 30 November) hit the nail on the head. There was negativity in both the Australia and Argentina games. Against Fiji there was more open and exciting stuff, but maybe that's because of Fiji's style of play.

Rugby has become more of an adding up of three points game. Football is a passing backwards game. Both need regeneration and a rethink. My money's on croquet to overtake both in the popularity stakes.

IAN JOHNSTONE

Forman Drive

Peterhead