Rugby Confidential: Code’s legends, fans turning off; Australia back in Sevens heaven

Rugby Union is dying, not just in Australia but globally, and it did not have to be this way. Rugby Confidential has all the latest rugby news.

Lachie Anderson in action for Australia against South Africa during the 2018 Sydney Sevens at Allianz Stadium. Picture: Bradley Kanaris/Getty

Rugby Confidential’s phones haven’t stopped ringing over the past few days with past and present players and punters all blowing up about the game’s pedantic rules.

The softening up of rugby has been happening for years but this weekend’s farcical send-offs seems to have tipped everyone over the edge.

And it’s not just the old dinosaurs longing for a return for the blood and guts days – it’s men, women, boys and girls all saying enough is enough.

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Everyone gets that player safety has to be paramount as scientists learn more about the terrible impact of head knocks, but the common thread in all the complaints is that it’s time to start using a bit of commonsense because rugby is a contact sport that everyone who plays it understands.

The low point was Saturday’s Super Rugby clash between Queensland and the Fijian Drua, which was stopped for over five minutes while the video and on-field officials poured over countless replays before brandishing yellow cards to three players for unintentional incidents that caused no harm to anyone.

Charlie Ewels is sent off for an accidental head clash. Picture: David Rogers/Getty

But just a few hours later, the eagerly awaited match up between Ireland and England was ruined after just 82 seconds when Charlie Ewels was sent off for a clumsy tackle, leaving fans on both sides of the Equator screaming out in frustration at how the great game is being destroyed by nanny laws that wouldn’t pass muster at a pillow fight.

As one former Wallaby told Rugby Confidential: “If this is the future of rugby, then count me out because this isn’t the game that we all love. This just isn’t rugby anymore.”

The rule changes are not the fault of Australian officials because they are being made by World Rugby board members who have completely lost touch with the game’s ethos and traditions.

But it’s Australian officials who are copping the rough end of it because this is the only country that has four professional leagues battling for eyeballs.

With the next World Cup in France now just 18 months away, there’s real fears that the game’s showpiece event will be ruined unless something is done but time is running out.

SEVENS HEAVEN

After two years in purgatory, Australia will be back on the global calendar for the next World Series Sevens.

World Rugby has not made any formal announcements yet but the reopening of Australia’s borders to foreigners is the green-light the event needed to be reincluded on the schedule next Summer.

The exact dates and venue are still being worked out but it’s understood that Sydney will remain as the host-city for the Australian Sevens, with the new Sydney Football Stadium odds-on to be picked as the ground.

The last time the event was held at the Sydney Football Stadium was in 2018 when Australia won both the men’s and women’s titles.

Lachie Anderson in action for Australia against South Africa during the 2018 Sydney Sevens at Allianz Stadium. Picture: Bradley Kanaris/Getty

Both teams have fallen on hard times since then but there are plenty of bright signs ahead of this year’s Commonwealth Games in Birmingham with the women’s team winning three events and the men making two finals.

The women have just completed a short undefeated tour of California while the men are in Fiji for a tournament this weekend where they are blooding a handful of new players including Chris Watkins, Matt Gonzalez, Tim Clements and Max Burey.

KIWI CHAOS

Who said the Kiws couldn’t organise a party in a brewery.

While the rest of the world is learning to live with Covid, the coronavirus is continuing to cause major problems across the ditch with this weekend’s round of Super Rugby matches in New Zealand almost entirely wiped out.

After there were confirmed Covid cases in three teams – the Blues, Highlanders and Crusaders – the Kiwis scrapped the original round and instead scheduled one match, between Moana Pasifika and the Chiefs, bit not everyone was happy.

The Chiefs were supposed to be playing the Hurricanes – who did not have any cases – but New Zealand officials ditched Wellington for Moana Pasifika because the tournament newcomers have only played once in four rounds this season.

New Zealand’s administrators have a long history of dropping the ball when it comes to organising matches – which is why they lost the hosting rights to the Rugby Championship a couple of seasons ago – but there is some good news on the horizon with their government’s decision to finally loosen the borders all but ensuring the trans-Tasman crossover matches will proceed as planned later this season.