South African rugby fans will be excused for believing the rugby world is conspiring against the Springboks after the international governing body announced several law changes last week.
World Rugby has tweaked some of the laws with the aim of there being fewer scrums in matches because there is a contention that the sight of 16 men shoving against each other for two minutes at a time is boring.
Of course, South Africans love scrums because they are the best in the world at this facet of the game and it has been the foundation of two World Cup wins for the Springboks over the past eight years.
Thus the conspiracy in this country is that if the rest of the world can’t beat the Boks, they are now moving to nullify them.
World Rugby went so far as to say the changes they are making are part of a “fan-focused” attempt to make the game more entertaining but, amusingly, real efforts to get the views of fans show the contrary.
Rugby websites internationally have canvassed fans on whether they want to see more or less scrums. The results of the polls are in and fans have contradicted what World Rugby says they want.
Fans feel the scrum is an integral part of the game and has been since the form of rugby that we know was popularised about 200 years ago.
The unique attraction of rugby is that it is for all shapes and sizes. The scrum caters to the weightier players while the backline is for the more fleet of foot.
Also, rugby is currently enjoying enormous popularity. It is one of the fastest-growing sports in the world.
The 2023 Rugby World Cup in France had a significant leap in viewership from the 2019 World Cup in Japan.
In other words, the game is far from broken and World Rugby should not be trying to fix it.
* Morgon Bolton, Sport’s Editor.
The Star
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