OPTIMISM GROWS AS WORLD CUP GETS CLOSER

David Matthews reveals signs of optimism with the World Cup a year away

In twelve months’ time the World Cup will be upon us and already a sense of anticipation is growing. You may have already been successful in an application for tickets, plan an assault on the Community allocation which is currently available, or be simply planning to watch games down at the club or at home on the sofa with the regulation supply of alcohol to sustain you. Even if you dismissed any thought of applying for tickets, on the basis that they were far too expensive, you must admit that the thought of the World’s best appearing on our home soil is genuinely exciting.

But, amidst this expectation, another issue will not go away: the restructuring of the adult game which takes in everything below level 3. Due to be launched the season after the World Cup, the main implications are a reduction to twelve team leagues along with subsidiary cup competitions organised by the RFU to compensate for that decrease in league matches. In the north of England the early response to these proposals was hostile, it was difficult to find support anywhere, but now that there has been an opportunity to look at (“study” might be overdoing it) the relevant document, in all its detail, there is a definite softening of opinion. As one of the most detailed surveys ever undertaken by the RFU, there was bound to be something to catch the eye and sure enough as clubs discovered that there was more in it for them than had first seemed apparent, there looks to have been a change of heart.

To more immediate matters: if you read the opening Whistleblower piece of the season you might recall a plea for the TMO’s contribution during  the game to be restricted to the scoring of a try. Well the RFU has not gone as far as that, but what do we read in The Daily Telegraph for September 4? “The Rugby Football Union has pledged to reduce the number of times the television match official is consulted this season and admits that it “needs to do better” in using such technology. It has taken heed of complaints from fans that there were too many hold-ups last season, and has instructed its officials to trust their own on-field judgment more.” England’s leading referee Wayne Barnes also acknowledged that there was a desire to keep the game on the move, adding “We need to make more decisions as referees rather than refer upstairs.” Remember where you read it all first! By the way, the “upstairs” reference, beloved by all commentators, may be quite misleading to viewers; far from conjuring up an image of the TMO cosily ensconced in his little domain, the reality is that he is seated in the producer’s truck or, if it is a glamorous European tie, in a little room resembling a padded cell.

Much to look forward to then, as a long season stretches ahead. Watch this space for the next revelations, but don’t hold your breath for improvements to the scrum. A colleague of mine offered an original (!) solution to the problem: why not remove two players from each side? The scrum engagement could become more stable and there would certainly be more space to play. Now that would be a novel way to launch the 2015 World Cup.