Backrow is gunning for the 10 off the scrum. The 13 is looking to sprint up and jam in. Keeping them bound and behind last feet a bit longer by SH being able to dummy gives the 9& 10 more time to work with ball in hand. Ball in hand better than in a ruck as you say.
League defense wasn’t as prominent as it in union these days. Dummy half can’t dummy from ruck in league as he just gets monstered. He can dummy and go but there’s no value to a dummy from the base.
A cute SH utilising this in union would.get the defenses more honest and more time for ball players in attack
It evolved because union was a big spectator sport with a large paying audience. The owners were making decent coin, whilst the players were expected to come out of the pit and play for free. It basically evolved down the M62 corridor. They diverged enough from Union to make a clean break (any arbitration would of course have fallen heavily on the side of the owners)
In terms of the different rules, it was the same all over. American football diverged from the same game too.
It’s largely a result of influencers and admins putting their stamps over the game.
Limited tackles in league was introduced by Bill Fallowfield. He had originally tried to make the game more like Union again as the play the ball had made League incredibly boring to watch. That was rejected so he eventually borrowed from American football.
This is a real coup by Eddie Jones. Suaali grew up playing rugby but was snagged by the NRL out of school. Shame for the Wallabies that they can’t get him before the World Cup.
Farrell seems to be a smashing manager I can’t understand how could stay looking at sexton walking along and shipping the ball on for the last ten minutes of that game.
Seemed very odd to me too, but half of the country would have called for his head in the absolute certainty that sexton would have won the game single handedly in the last ten mins, and the WC. Like Roy Keane in Saipan.
Ah I don’t think they would in fairness. Although there is a bit of an obsession with sexton in some quarters. Great player but a shade overrated I think.
I was surprised to learn this was starting this weekend… Very quiet build up? Where are Ireland at ? It’s usually the two years before the world cup where they are flying it, is the the year just after a down year ?
Are you kidding? There’s folk still incandescent about BOD being dropped by the lions who went on to win. There’s plenty think oireland would have won the WC with Keane, when they actually did pretty well without him.
I don’t think anyone is saying that. But leaving sexton on plodding around was odd. When the game looked to be gone in the last five at least roll the dice. Sexton’s missed kick goes completely uncommented on too.