Quote: Kowalski32 "It is absolutely true that big changes can (will) have unforeseen consequences, but they have been made in the past (15 to 13, changes to number of tackles, changes to numbers of subs). I'd argue the game needs that sort of change right now in order to survive, in terms of the concussion issue, and remain entertaining full stop.
Of course there are still great games of rugby around, but if you watch old matches to see how it was played in the 80s and 90s, I think it's a totally different level of excitement. I want to see varieties of passing moves, kicks, off-the-cuff running; all the unpredictable stuff that used to thrill me. A huge amount of that skill has gone out of the game now. I'm sure a large part of that is because defences are too fit and organised and there's not enough space/time for players to express themselves in any way other than raw power.
This is more urgent because the days of massive hits and fighting are gone and won't be back, so the game needs a selling point.
On the other hand I also know that I was a lot younger in the 80s and 90s so maybe that accounts for the added excitement of the era.'"
All very good points and I agree.
I think another thing that is overlooked is that in the 80s and before there was a genuine battle for possession so if you kicked into touch or ran into touch it wasn't a guaranteed turnover as there was a chance you could win the ball back at the scrum. You could also rake the ball back at the PTB and pinch it in the tackle no matter how many players were involved. That meant you could take risks more with possession.
Now I'm not advocating bringing back contested scrums as they ended up a being nightmare with the ref able to penalise every one as all the players were desperately trying to win the ball. That's happen again. But why not allow the raking back of the ball at the PTB? It would introduce a bit more variation and give an opportunity to for defences to win the ball.
