The old saying “half a loaf is better than no bread,” seems to have little appeal to many rugby journalists. While some of us are thankful to have had any matches to watch this miserable autumn, many of them have been severely critical of the quality of the play.
Well, of course, they have a point. Some of it has been poor, much lacking in ambition and adventure. There has been a lot of kicking from hand, often ill-directed, even aimless. Interpretation of the revised law at the breakdown has resulted in too many penalties, for which referees, rather than players disregarding or breaking the law, have been blamed.
There have been too many reset scrums and some referees still eat up time by conducting a tutorial before the scrums can engage. The eagerness of television match officials to interfere rather than waiting for the referee to ask for advice, and the long delays while they ponder decisions that referees in the amateur club game make in a few seconds disturb the continuity of play. But also, give players a long breather, enabling defenders to hold at bay the fatigue that has always offered opportunities to attack with ball in hand. So, yes, some of the complaints have been reasonable.
