HarlodFlower says...

Just a quick one: think the idea with 2 points for penalties and drops may well work out. But why not combine it with the idea of free kicks becoming like penalties without the option of going for goal. Sounds great to me - except that Scotland would never win a game again...

Posted 16:48 06th December 2011

GCP_JONES says...

@ leinster_goy...

For the craic here's My Lions World Cup Team if they were allowed play in New Zealand. I think they would give a lot of teams a run for their money, even Namibia.

1.Marcus Horan 2.Rob Webber 3.Joe Marler 4.Dan Tuohy 5.Nick Kennedy

6.Rhys Ruddock 7.Steffon Armitage 8.Phil Dowson

9.Peter Stringer 10.Danny Ciprani

11.Luke Fitzgerald 12.James Downey 13.Jordan Turner Hall.14.Charlie Sharples

15.Mike Brown

Posted 12:15 30th November 2011

bad_robot says...

Have to agree with RuckingKiwi. There is no need to change the points system, rather the "reward" for taking a penalty. If you take a speculative drop goal and miss and the ball goes dead, then its a scrum to the defending team back where it was kicked from. If you take a penalty kick and miss, then same story. It can also be put on to the defending team whether to catch the ball and touch down in goal, which would still result in a 22 drop.

However this does put the onus on the attacking team to play attacking rugby. Defending teams might still take the gamble that the attacking team will take the penalty, and if they miss, the defending team then gets the feed to a scrum in a better attacking position.

Posted 09:29 30th November 2011

shane123 says...

Regarding the experimental change to the point system, I think that drop goals are difficult and exciting enough that they should be left at three points. However, I think that penalty kicks could have their point values changed based on territory, so that teams don't get to accumulate high numbers of points without first moving the ball forward.

My proposal for changing the point values of penalty kicks would be to leave them at three points if the infringement and mark are inside the defending 22, two points if between the 22 and midfield, and only one point if a team kicks a penalty goal from their own half of the field. This would still dissuade teams from committing penalties near their own goal, allowing the attacking team the freedom to score tries. However, it would all but eliminate teams scoring from their own half of the field simply because they have a player with a strong boot, even though they weren't able to get to the ball into the opponent's half of the field. The team that is able to gain territorial advantage and put their opponents under pressure would thereby be awarded with the ability to score significant points when their opponents commit penalties, but teams with nothing but a good kicker would have their rewards reduced when their opponents commit penalties. This would still encourage attacking teams to run with the ball with the goal of gaining a territorial advantage, discourage defending teams from committing penalties, and reward teams who accummulate territorial advantage over teams who are simply able to score penalty goals from forty yards out.

Posted 23:12 29th November 2011

Lucasrg says...

Nick Mallet said he will wait after the 6N will end and make up his mind together with his family.

Kirwan and Jones are ideal....the thing is that for the first time ever RFU needs an outsider, someone who is not biased and who will make R. Andrew more responsible. I'm sure that Andrew is a bit more "modern" than that dinosaur of Mr. Dondi (FIR president) and will let Mallet work properly.

Posted 18:10 29th November 2011

Chancer says...

Please, please stop tinkering with the game that I love, watch a game from the archive where forwards knew how to scrum, where hookers hooked, where line outs were taken without lifting, where forward passes were mostly spotted and all high tackles were penalised. Perhaps rose tinted, but entertaining rugby union is not about scoring masses of tries, each facet of the game is a contest, and entertaining.

Posted 13:51 29th November 2011

GCP_JONES says...

I have just recovered from getting up at the crack of dawn to watch the world cup, so I don't think I for one will be getting out of bed or paying for sky sports to watch a concept that should not be around in this day and age.

As I have said in other posts scrap it or at a push have a lions selection for the next world cup

Posted 13:04 29th November 2011

nzfletch says...

Graham Henry for Lions Coach. That is all.

Posted 12:37 29th November 2011