Beverley red wrote:
Then that must be the reason all the laws of the game to be applied equally across the board. The spectacle was ruined years ago when genuine completion for the ball was taken away in the name of speeding up the game.
It wasn’t though really. The game wasn’t filled with amazing pieces of play that began with a 2 on 1 ball steal or a marker kicking the ball 20 m upfield at the play the ball.
The game entertainment wise has suffered partly because of increased conditioning providing better and suffocating defences, and the wrestle at the play the ball. Neither of which are actually a fault of the rules they’re just an evolution of the game that it now needs evolve away from.
Personally I think we can do a couple of things to help without drastically changing the nature of the game:
1 - if you run the ball into touch it’s a play the ball rather than a scrum to the opposition. This should open the pitch up more and encourage more attacking play especially in a teams own half.
2 - hold defensive line back until the acting half touches the ball rather than when the foot touches the ball. Not much but gives the attack a bit extra time and space