Sam Warburton echoes Nigel Owens’ call for World Rugby to ‘quicken up the game’ before it’s ‘unwatchable’
Nika Amashukeli signals for a TMO review and an inset of Wales legend Sam Warburton.
Wales legend Sam Warburton has echoed Nigel Owens’ calls to speed up the game, with too much time spent reviewing head contact by officials.
World Rugby have attempted to clamp down on the number of head contacts in the sport with law changes and the introduction of the coaching intervention programme to reduce suspensions.
Are players changing their behaviour?
Warburton questions how successful the game’s governing body has been in their attempt to change players’ behaviours.
“I have mentioned this before, and I know Nigel Owens, the former referee, has written a lot about it, but too much time is being taken up looking at head contacts,” he wrote in his Times column.
“The delays are all coming in good faith because the game is entirely right to focus on player welfare — it is probably doing a lot more than many other sports in that regard — and the officials are only following orders, but has it gone too far because of the inconsistencies involved? The momentum of matches is being killed too often.
“In a column, Owens raised the question of player behaviour and whether it has actually changed. It is a good point.”
He added: “Have players really altered what they are doing in the eight years since then? I’m not sure they have.
“Head contacts in rugby union are unavoidable. I have said that before and I will say that again, and the ugly, dirty ones are rightly being punished, but we can reduce the general number, and for that the players have to take some responsibility.”
Nigel Owens: One thing World Rugby ‘needs to look at’ as it’s having a ‘huge’ impact on the game
Rugby has never been perfect or safe
The former Lions skipper added that he thinks that referees are being pushed into a corner by players because they are not going lower and not wrapping their arms.
He also questioned whether the coaches are doing enough, too.
“Is there enough work being done on training grounds on tackle technique? I know that what we see in a game is often the result of extreme fatigue and the intensity and speed of matches, and that to get it right in those circumstances is very hard, but are we doing enough to reduce the regularity of such instances?” he continued.
“If we are, then maybe we just have to accept that there will be those head contacts and we have to deal with them so much more quickly. I am telling you now that head contacts at rucks — such as the Jac Morgan incident on last summer’s Lions tour — are particularly difficult to avoid, so let’s use a bit more common sense and realise that is just a clear-out and we move on.
“Rugby has never been perfect or safe, and never will be. We are trying to make it safer, which is great, but we also need to make sure it doesn’t become unwatchable. The game has to be quickened up. Please!”
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