Following last week’s approval by the IRB of 13 Experimental Law Variations (ELV's)
for implementation globally across the Game with effect from 1 August, Broughton
President Mark Brown takes a look at what's in store for the game at Regional
Level.
The ELV's have already been experimented in the Super Cup
tournament for Premiership teams in Scotland, but is this what we really need
for the game at all levels?
A faster paced game with the backs
and forwards on each other's shoulder for 80 minutes may work along at
Watsonians or Boroughmuir, where players are training 5 times a week and are
likely to be paid to play and compete for major Club rugby honours.
However, down in the National League & Regions, the changes
may indeed make the 22 stone beer swigging prop extinct, with Rugby Union's
unique selling point of it being a game for "all shapes and all sizes"
dangerously close to disappearing down the pan.
Will the downsizing of penalties to free-kicks for technical
offences now mean that Scotland will have no chance to points on the board
(welcome back to Edinburgh Mossy!) in the 6 Nations next year?
Should the ELV's stop at this? If they want quick,
dynamic restarts, why not make scrums a way of restarting the game a la Rugby
League?
What are these
ELV's
anyway?
Well, for anyone who has been watching this year's Super 14's from the
Southern Hemisphere, changes to Lineouts, Mauls, Scrums for example have been
put in place which, according to IRB Referee Manager Paddy O’Brien "can make the
game easier to play, understand, coach and for the spectator easier for them to
understand."
What do you the Player, Spectator, Coach, Referee think?
Is it the end of Rugby Union as we know it? Is South African flying
machine Bryan Habana spot on by claiming that Union is the new League?
E-mail The President with your views -
president@broughtonrugby.co.uk
SRU plan to scrap Cup Competition
and Review Leagues (again....)
The SRU AGM is to be held on Friday 27th June and one of the
Motions likely to fuel most of the debate is the SRU's recommendation that, as
an interim measure, the National Cup Competitions be suspended in respect of
Season 2008/09.
The Motion, Proposed by Alan Munro, Chairman of the Scottish
Rugby Board and George Jack, Chairman of the Scottish Rugby Council received at
the weekend, recommends that the Cup Competitions should be put into abeyance
next season. It is claimed that the National Cup, whilst valued by many,
has seen it's importance diminished over the years. In addition to this
claim, the proposal adds that, ".....the Board and Council would encourage Clubs
to use such dates (weekends freed by no Cup fixtures) for local fixtures,
friendly or competitive, thereby reinvigorating the game at local level and
creating the opportunity for clubs to play against local rivals, not necessarily
in the same League."
Further to this, it is also proposed that the Scottish Rugby
Council should consult widely on a proposed season structure for Season 2010/11
such that the participants are notified of the new structure in advance of the
2009/10 season.
Broughton President Mark A Brown isn't convinced. "
The Touch
Rugby Tournament has kicked off at Wardie.
Mixed Leagues are on a Wednesday Night and the Men's &
Women's Leagues are on a Thursday.
This is a big time for Broughton with the Country's Premier
Touch Rugby event coming to YOUR Club. All Members, if you are playing or
just a spectator, are encouraged to come along and support this event, which is
a welcomed income earner during the close-season.
A
stint behind the bar wouldn't go amiss either! YES, in order for YOUR Club
to benefit, we need YOUR help.
If you can do a shift behind the bar on a Wednesday or
Thursday Night, please contact Mark Brown, Club President, on 0776 4149767.
*Urgently Required*
