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'People are getting bored': Former All Black makes startling admission that NRL has overtaken union
By Sam Smith
Former All Black fullback Israel Dagg has made a startling admission that rugby union is being ‘absoluted dominated’ by its rival code, with rugby league commanding more of an audience in New Zealand.
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Dagg surmised that sport fans in general are becoming disenchanted with the game of union as a result of the cardfests that have been issued in order to crack down on high contact and other indiscretions at the ruck.
Thus the game of union is constantly in stop-start mode due to referee and TMO intervention, compared to the NRL which has decided to continue on with lesser in-game punishments for such discretions.
As a result rugby league is enjoying a much higher ball-in-play time and regular free flowing action which is appealing to fans. As a spectacle, league has surpassed what rugby union is offering.
“We’ve got a real situation at the moment where rugby league and rugby union are competing and rugby league is absolutely dominating,” Dagg said on The 42.ie’s Rugby Weekly Extra podcast.
“If you want to go and watch sport for entertainment, you go and watch league at the moment.
“They’re ticking all the boxes and one of the biggest factors is that they have got clarity in how the game is being played.
“The game [union] is just… the rules, the officiating – it’s confusing. It’s so stop-start and there’s no ball in play.”
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The All Blacks three-match test series against Ireland was a quality spectacle from a historical sense, however the second test was influenced by a host of cards issued in the first half including a red card to prop Angus Ta’avao.
The TMO interventions in rugby are adding significant time to the overall broadcast where an 80-minute game can take well over two hours to finish in some cases.
The brutal State of Origin decider which saw the return of explosive fights and vicious tackles in a gladiatorial spectacle, Dagg said the centrepiece series of rugby league commanded much more interest by comparison.
The former All Black said that the game has become ‘too confusing’ and is in ‘dire need of change’.
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“You want to see the ball in play,” Dagg said.
“You don’t want to be watching players get ready for a line-out or a scrum going down or the ref going up to the TMO. The TMO is p—– me off.
“I just think the game of rugby is too confusing and there’s too much of it on our TVs and people are getting bored.
“It’s in dire need of change. How we go about it I am unsure but a good start would be to get some common sense in the officiating.”
Rugby league fans criticism of rugby union especially of the stop start professional union game, and pedantic IRB refereeing edicts, would soon become moot due to the necessary differences in both games, putting aside the politics about leagues working class heritage, today's top money sponsorship and franchise club opportunities has leveled the playing field for both codes which is why players occasionally change codes if an opportunity looks economically tempting, though league players do tend to stick with the game they know.
Crossing codes does require new skill sets especially with rucks and mauls, scrums have little tactical relevance in league, though in the rules there's no reason for league players not to contest scrums it's just not in the spirit of the league game, as is removing the scrum as a time consuming technical interlude is in rugby union.
Athletes from both rugby codes could with time convert to either code, but from my point of view union does offer a lot more game variation with 15 players on the field, if there were 13 the scores in union would be a lot higher per game, which is not always what attracts fans to watch the union game.
Dagg is probably caught up in the parochial hype that is a big part of the NRL, and an important factor for the NRL negotiating TV rights and commercial sponsorship, and there's no better made for TV team sport contest than the State of Origin, but I doubt that league played at that intensity in every game would be good for player longevity, but bring back the 'Biff' would have a lot of commentators getting excited for sure.
Am a passionate league person and believe it's the superior game, but surely it'll never compete with union for popularity in NZ (or in most Pacific countries)? It may carve a bigger niche than it currently has, and certain events like Pacific Tests and any Warriors finals appearances will draw large audiences, but union will always be number 1.
Bottom line, union is taking the hot issue of the moment, concussions, with the seriousness required, something league is not. If that means that league "overtakes" union (whatever that means) in Australia and the Pacific, that's fine. One thing I always struggle to understand is why NZ and Australia think they own the game of union. League is a "threat" to Union in Oceania and the Pacific and literally nowhere else. The game is thriving in places like South America, Spain, Portugal, and Japan, where league does not exist. It's time to stop thinking that rugby union must change and evolve constantly only to entice people from Oceania to like it and follow it. League needs to be strong in Australia and the Pacific otherwise it would die. That's not the case with Union.
Reading some of the misinformed nonsense about NZ rugby in NH papers over the last few weeks leaves me to conclude that are as clueless up there as they have ever been. Dagg is bang on. And whilst NZ has some the most stringent HIA protocols in world rugby - apparently the clamour for a sensible approach to the appalling mess with cards and head knocks is an example on where NZ needs to change.
The pure arrogance of NH rugby is galling.
"Thus the game of union is constantly in stop-start mode " What is league if not a series of stop start events??