the times | Monday June 29 2020 2GM 51
Rugby unionSport
England, Scotland and Wales men’s and
women’s sevens teams are likely to
merge into a unified Great Britain side
as a long-term result of the coronavirus
pandemic.
Presentations were made to the
board of UK Sport on Friday to press
the case for funding the GB teams.
At present, England, Scotland and
Wales all field separate men’s teams in
the HSBC World Rugby Sevens series,
which includes the well-attended
events in Hong Kong and at Twicken-
ham.
Previous discussions to amalgamate
the three teams have foundered but,
according to Bill Sweeney, the chief
executive of the RFU, “Covid has been
a catalyst”.
None of the three separate teams has
been performing well in the world
PHIL WALTER/GETTY IMAGESQuicker possession, a metre to
work in; suddenly, defence is not
impregnable. It makes the new 50/22
kicking law already trialled in
Australia seem the foolishness that it
is. An artificial measure to plaster up
a problem that need not exist.
These little transgressions that
have become accepted over time are
the bane of the game. Not the
endlessly replayed kicks or punches.
Coaches have undermined referees
who have grown craven in the face
of this constant, overwhelming
cynicism and the sport’s governing
bodies have capitulated.
That leaves the players. It has long
been the case that the bloke who is
slowing down the other side on the
wrong side of the ruck is a genuine
hero. To roll away can cost the game.
The message must change. So be it.
Penalties, cards for deliberate offences
must cost the cheats. Let’s whistle the
game killers out of the sport. Paul
Williams the first Pied Piper.their pace. Yet the match was a classic
of contrasts. The Blues wanted the
faster, looser rugby identified with
New Zealand. But the Highlanders, to
take the width from their opponents,
played a tighter, driving game, with
much of their play revolving around
the outstanding Aaron Smith. One
side trying to outflank the other, the
other attempting to overpower the
flyers. That is the backdrop to the best
rugby matches.
Rush defences were policed. Smith
was able to take a few lateral steps to
draw opponents onto the gain line.
That cannot be done with the present
non-offside line. Prop forwards are
fabulous defenders but, let’s face it,
few of them are light-footed. If they
have been able to inch offside, they
will often stop or slow down an
opposing back. If they are one on one
legitimately, as the Highlanders fly
half Mitchell Hunt was on this
occasion; well, there is only one
winner. The result being a fine try.Caleb Clarke impressed in the Blues’ 27-24 win over the Highlanders in Super
Rugby Aotearoa, a competition that is lighting the way for the game’s futureA
ugust 15 may not be the
start of a new season for
the Premiership. But the
scheduled date for this
season’s resumption must,
however, be a new era. There is no
excuse for the sport not to emulate
what we witnessed in Auckland on
Saturday morning. It was not perfect,
not error-free, but the Blues against
the Highlanders gave the rugby world
an indication of the way forward.
Administrators, referees, players
and coaches have an opportunity to
pull the game from the morass into
which it has been sinking at the
breakdown. World Rugby has stated
that the breakdown is to be refereed
according to the law book and not an
interpretation upon which English
referees have decided.
As ever, New Zealand are ahead of
the field. In the first few weeks of
their domestic tournament, players
were falling all over themselves at the
breakdown. The referees — in the
main — played their part and
maintained something close to zero
tolerance around the tackle. Week
three improvements made for a
fascinating match in dewy and damp
night-time conditions.
The Kiwis are the first to play it
strictly according to the laws. One
assumes there is not a coach in
England who has not been watching
and rewinding these games. In the
past the smart ones were adjudged to
be those who evaded the laws.
That has to change for the sake of
the sport. A radical new and positive
mindset is required and it begins with
coaching. And a board accepting a
new criteria on which the
management and team are rated. The
primary requirement will still be to
Stuart Barnes
Why deliberate
offside is worse
than punching
win but not at all costs. I never
thought an old cynic like myself
would write such words but, as I said
in yesterday’s Sunday Times, the
professional game has not been
making the improvements expected
on the pitch.
Slowing the ball at the breakdown
and living a foot offside across the
field has inexorably shifted the sport,
especially in Europe, to a game of
pick, drive and box-kicking. The side
in attack doesn’t do much because the
side in defence makes it impossible to
play with ambition.
The first instinct is to negate. Much
easier than creating. It’s the unspoken
reason why teams kick away
possession. With quick ball, sides can
play from anywhere; once it has been
delayed and defences are organised,
ambition translates as insanity.
The forgotten laws give both teams
a chance at contact. The Highlanders
won three excellent turnovers with
the first man after the tackle beating
the ball-carrying side to the punch.
The tackled man is now releasing the
ball, aware that a penalty is the
inevitable cost of hugging possession
a second or two too long.
The contest was clean, it was quick
and it required good decision-making.
The essence of the sport.
Referees, especially in the
Premiership, must be silent from
August 15. I presume they will have
seen what a supreme job the taciturn
Paul Williams is doing. The New
Zealand referee is the template for
new times.
If players are encouraged to cheat
at breakdown or offside line they
should be treated with no mercy.
Players killing the ball and, with it,
opportunity, are ruining the game for
paying viewers, both in the stands and
on the sofas. They are offending
against the rugby public. Think about
it that way. I reckon deliberate offside
is a worse offence than punching an
opponent. The violated usually
deserve it.
Some fear another New Zealand
ruse to force the world into playingSkivington’s
Gloucester
move may be
investigated
Owen SlotGloucester will be investigated for a
breach of the Premiership’s code of
conduct if London Irish decide to press
ahead with complaints that the West
County club made an illegal raid on
their coaching staff to sign George
Skivington.
Gloucester announced on Saturday
that their new head coach was Skiving-
ton, who has been forwards coach at
London Irish since 2016. London Irish
hit back with a furious statement saying
that no approach, either formal or in-
formal, had been made requesting per-
mission to talk to Skivington and that
the club would “consider all its options”.
Brian Facer, the chief executive of
London Irish, said: “To say we are
disappointed with Gloucester’s
announcement is an understatement.”
Skivington had another year left on
his contract with Irish. The Premier-
ship’s code of conduct states that if a
player or coach has more than six
months left on his contract, then that
club must be alerted in writing by
another club about an approach.
A Premiership Rugby spokesman
said: “If we receive a complaint from
one of our clubs alleging a breach of the
Premiership Rugby code of conduct, we
will investigate it.”
However, Gloucester then insisted
yesterday that they were in the clear. In
a statement, the club said: “Gloucester
Rugby understood that Skivington was
not restricted contractually from
joining the club. Gloucester Rugby,
nevertheless, directly and straight-
forwardly sought clarification of
London Irish’s position. That clarifica-
tion has not been forthcoming.”
The row has somewhat overshad-
owed the appointment itself. Skiving-
ton is only 37; it is unusual for an
English club to appoint to such a senior
position a coach who is so young and
short on experience.
It could be described as a cut-price
move, yet it is also a brave show of faith.
The appointment received a ringing
endorsement from Danny Cipriani, the
Gloucester fly half, who knows him
from their playing days at Wasps
together. He said: “This is the most
exciting announcement of a head
coach I’ve seen in rugby, forward-
thinking. The type of man you build a
club around.”Wilson-Hardy was inspired by a
talk from the brave CummingsEngland, Scotland and Wales sevens teams may merge full time
series. Of the three men’s teams,
England are best placed in fifth posi-
tion, Scotland are 11th and Wales are
15th. Proposals to amalgamate the
three into one would cut costs and, in
theory, raise standards.
The different nations are already
required to join into one Team GB unit
for the Olympics. After Rio 2016, where
the men’s team secured silver and the
women’s team finished fourth, they
were divided back again into three.
Moves are now afoot for the separate
squads to be disbanded and for the GB
team to be competing on the inter-
national circuit full time up to and after
the Tokyo Olympics next summer.
It is understood that the Team GB
model could save the RFU around
£2 million a year.
“We have always felt that a Team GB
sevens team makes the most sense,”
Sweeney said. “And that’s even more sonow in the current cost environ-
ment. We have always said that a
Team GB format is the ideal way
to be able to compete in the
Olympics. This might give us
the impetus to do that.”
For this reason, Sweeney said,
the appeals to UK Sport were
made on Friday. “Most
sevens programmes are
funded by their national
Olympic organisation,” he
said. “For us to go to
Japan, the total cost is
about £4 million. We
are requesting further
support from UK Sport to
go to Japan.“
Sweeney also explained that
“there is much less oppositionfrom a unions’ point of view.”
However, this may yet be the
problem for the Team GB concept.
England and Wales are in favour
of a long-term Team GB model.
Scotland are yet to be persuaded to
come on board because it is
believed that the
value in devel-
oping players
outweighs
the costs.
A Scot-
land
spokesman told
The Times: “We are
committed to our Scot-
land sevens programme
and we envisage a
Scotland sevens
programme in place
pre-Tokyo and post-
Tokyo, through to theCommonwealth Games in Birming-
ham in 2022.”
Due to Covid-19, the men’s circuit has
lain dormant since the round in Van-
couver on March 8. There has been no
rugby on the women’s circuit since the
start of February. The official word is
that the men’s circuit will resume on
October 10 in Singapore and the
women’s a week later in Hong Kong.
However, there remain doubts as to
whether either circuit will actually re-
sume before the end of the year.
The England women’s squad were
recently given a presentation from Jack
Cummings, a former bomb-disposal
expert who lost both his legs in action in
Afghanistan in 2010. His talk was a per-
sonal lesson in how to build resilience,
“Thinking of Jack and the fire in his
belly is inspirational and will drive us
forward,” said Amy Wilson-Hardy of
Cummings’s webinar.lOwen Slot Chief Rugby Correspondent