His latest cause celebre surrounds the use of replacements and how rugby finds a way to create more space for attacking play. Well, for once, this Welshman is with him on the call to reduce the number of subs.
No doubt still miffed at the way the Springboks overpowered his England side in last year’s Rugby World Cup final in Japan by changing their whole front five during the contest, he now wants to speed up the game by reducing the number of replacements and seems to believe that making the piano lifters play longer will tire them out and help to create some space.
This extends a theme that Nigel Owens has often talked about. He believes the introduction of fresh forwards into a game in which other, smaller players are beginning to tire creates a risk of injury. If you put the two thoughts together there seems to me to be a valid argument for taking a long, hard look at the number of replacements that are permitted in the game.
This story is from the July 26, 2020 edition of The Rugby Paper.
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This story is from the July 26, 2020 edition of The Rugby Paper.
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