Will we ever see Rugby like this again ?

[Leekbrookgull]

Sorry mate, you are wrong. It is simply that the bar has been raised to such a high level these days. I have met a number of the old boys from those days - they would not compete with their modern counterparts on a one to one basis. Look how Jonah Lomu destroyed players at the start of this era!

Pork pie agree with you,yet when i watch rugby now it is all about power. Touch,flair,class have been blown away in the pursuit of Muscle. The bar 'has been raised' as you say,but what have we lost ?

 

[Leekbrookgull]

Who is this voice telling you that rugby is better nowadays?

The 'Educated' media !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[pork pie]

Pork pie agree with you,yet when i watch rugby now it is all about power. Touch,flair,class have been blown away in the pursuit of Muscle. The bar 'has been raised' as you say,but what have we lost ?

I think it is largely a problem with our "Directors of Rugby's" selections and tactics. This definition of Wingers always makes me laugh:

"Wing (1): Northern hemisphere - extra defender.

Wing (2): Southern hemisphere - top try scorer."

And for me just about sums up where the "flair" has gone in our northern hemisphere rugby.

 

[pork pie]

I know which era of rugby union I would prefer to watch.
AND the punch ups where better then.

From my perspective, rugby has started to follow football's path since it became professional. It is all about money, which in turn means it is all about results. Nobody seams to care about entertainment in football now.

When people, like Gus, talk about keeping the wall so the other team do not have it to score (but do nothing with it ourselves just pass it about aimlessly) it makes things so boring. Leicester Tigers' attritional rugby, again where possession is everything, is a direct mirror of how football has become.

 

[Questions]

From my perspective, rugby has started to follow football's path since it became professional. It is all about money, which in turn means it is all about results. Nobody seams to care about entertainment in football now.

When people, like Gus, talk about keeping the wall so the other team do not have it to score (but do nothing with it ourselves just pass it about aimlessly) it makes things so boring. Leicester Tigers' attritional rugby, again where possession is everything, is a direct mirror of how football has become.

That is true.If Duckham went on a mazy run in today's game you could hear the coaches screaming that he was isolating himself.

 

[Weststander]

NEVER. All muscle and power now. Yet these guys could play. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMd7PQavavw&feature=watch_response

Got the dvd. An amazing era, of agile, gifted, Rugby geniuses.

With the passionate & perfect commentary of Cliff Morgan, compared to modern bores Miles Harrison, Andrew Cotter & Alaistair Eykyn.

 

[Leekbrookgull]

I don't think we will ever see a better Try than the Bennett/Edwards effort. Even with todays 'Modern' style of play those player's had serious skill and pace.

 

[pork pie]

Got the dvd. An amazing era, of agile, gifted, Rugby geniuses.

.

I am sorry, but I think you need to watch more rugby! At no level were any of those players better than typical County U18 or U20 players at best.

Modern Academy teams would destroy them.

I don't like the lack of freedom to play expansive rugby these days, but the quality of training for technical skills has produced players of an infinitely higher quality. If modern players tackled like that, they would not be playing very long. How many missed tackles? How easily was the defensive line broken? Why were players failing to take man and ball when they should have done so easily? rubbish defense was why it looked good.

There are a number of things wrong with the modern game, but it certainly is not the players' technical skills compared to that era.