....and presumably the 4 Tackle Rule was also greeted with the same sort of derision.

they're

I've got some ideas:

"Multi-ball" - add two extra balls for 10 minutes (coaches call) - either side can use them so you have to attack and defend at the same time - awesome.

"20-20" - if you can kick a ball from inside your 20 out of play in the opponents 20 then defenders have to put on blindfolds for the next set of tackles.

"Dogging" - instead of a yellow card if a player delivers a high shot then he has to go sit in a 1992 Vauxhall Astra in the stadium car park until he's been relieved of his stress by a 55 year old married woman from Dagenham.

"Fat Lady" - instead of a hooter to end the game at 80 minutes a fat lady (nominated by winning a coin toss) has to follow a series of clues until she finds a song sheet. Once she finds the song sheet she then has to run on the pitch and sing it - thus ending the match.

I think there should be various pieces of fruit suspended 15 feet above the pitch, and if you dislodge enough of them with a rugby ball you get a series of rewards. 3 watermelons = extra life (next opposition try scores 0 points). 3 bananas = invincibility for 20 seconds, and so on.

Also, after 20 minutes the playing surface should change to rubble, 40 to ice, 60 to fire.

This one has to be implemented, but only in the event of a draw, and we go into Extra time.

We'd have to go all MLS, and have no draws in league games

you lot have all gone mad


there are some crazy ideas

i would just play some music and one side must stand still till the music stops

Instead of the "golden point" the defenders stand on their try line with all turn their backs on the attackers. If they turn around and catch the attackers moving then the ball is turned over.

Another alternative to the "golden point" would be the "golden pint". This would allow a little fan participation. Teams must bring from the crowd their biggest beer boy to bolt a pint in the fastest time (Jonny Vegas could give Saints the edge here).

Some of your ideas are positively sane compared to:

2 extra players per side
3 points for all goal kicks (except conversions)
Penalise brilliant relieving kicks by allowing a quick uncontested 'throw-in'
Allow at least 5 minutes play after each offence before declaring advantage over.
Spend at least 15 minutes of every game with contested scrums/line-outs (usually leading to penalties)
Penalise line-breaks by forcing the attacking player to drop the ball when they're tackled.
Allow kicks out on the full from within the 20 to make sure attackers don't get too near the try-line
etc., etc., etc

I have to coach it. The RFU is considering changeing the format of mini rugby completely. U8's is tag rugby, 7 a side at the moment, then the next year it's basically proper rugby - 9 a side. You can't do any contact with them before the 1st of September and competitive matches start in October. So you get 4 weeks to teach them to tackle, ruck, maul, lineout and scrum (uncontested until U10 - 3 man). Then there's passing out of the tackle, ball retention, contact skills, attacking lines, support play et.c etc. And then the rules.
Guess what the RFU wants to do? U9 would be rugby league 7 a side. No rucks, no mauls, no lineouts and no scrums. All we would concentrate on would be tackling, attacking lines, contact skills (offloading) and defensive shape.

Still we went to Bath this week and played at the Rec. Scored our first try from a driving maul, pretty awesome for 8 year olds who have only been doing this since September.

Having watched a number of recent games on TV, I'd think throwing and catching a rugby ball might be a good place to start.

U6.

That along with running forwards.