Brute forces which could do the game great harm

RUGBY Union has reached a critical crossroads in which the future of our sport is in the balance, particularly in England, Wales, and Scotland, but also further afield in Australia, and even New Zealand.

- 

That is over half of what used to be called the 'big eight' nations suffering a serious decline in playing numbers, and in rugby union’s profile veering away from being a mainstream sport towards being an injury-hit minority activity which many believe should carry a government health warning.

This is a cause of grave concern for World Rugby, a global governing body that seems to be stuck in a loop of compounding one set of bad game-altering laws with another, to the detriment of the sport.

In essence, it has to choose between continuing to follow the brute force collision sport route that it has gravitated towards in the pro era, or rediscover the path to the evasion sport it used to be, which encouraged players of all shapes and sizes to participate.

This choice has been highlighted over the last week by both rugby codes seeking to distance themselves from “Run It Straight”. This is a macho one-on-one collision challenge which has rocketed to the top of the social media 'vulture' charts in New Zealand and Australia, despite very sadly claiming the life of 19-year-old New Zealander Ryan Satterthwaite in Auckland at the end of last month.

In reality, rugby union is not about to become a 30-man version of “Run It Straight”, even though often one of the participants will carry a rugby ball. However, what it throws into stark relief is that the fifteen-a-side code urgently requires a reset, where skill, footwork, elusiveness, and great tackling technique should be promoted much more than two humans deliberately charging full tilt into a collision which is likely to do physical damage to one, or both.