www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-league/25314912

www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-league/25314912

Union (much like football) is a sport where it's too easy for the inferior side to stifle the ambitions of the superior one by denying them possession and taking time out of the game. Something which it's much harder to do in League.

The main attraction for me with RL is that the attacking side can only go forward hence the game is more dynamic and fluid and there isn't the option of simply retaining possession to deny the opposition the ball as in soccer and to some extent RU

The problem with trying to retain the ball in union for the sole purpose of denying the opposition possession is that its impossible to keep that up for 80 minutes and unlike football you cannot switch that tactic on when you go one score up, all it takes is for a succession of two or three rucks to draw in all of your forwards to maintain the possession and hold up play for as long as you can and suddenly your defensive line is horribly exposed to a mistake and a switch of possession.

Its often been compared to a game of chess, you just need to understand the rules and be patient.

Good analogy

Yes RU is a game of Chess, complex rules, played tactically, some might say slowly, playing for position, the advantage ebbing and flowing, seeking to gradually pile on pressure, until the opposition collapses.

RL is a game of Checkers, straight forward rules, all positions going forward, often at pace, forcing positions until gaps are created, and the opponents line is breached.

What about Vickery at Hull

Up until this season though, it was easy for teams to retain possession and wind down halves/games when they were in the lead. I've seen plenty of examples of teams going through 14/15 phases of possession with nothing but pick and drives from the back of a ruck, each then taking 15-20 seconds to recycle the ball to the back again.

The changes for this season meaning that the ball has to be used as soon as it becomes available to the player at the back of the ruck will lessen that, but it won't stop teams playing what is in effect unlimited tackle league to wind down the clock.

Just don't get me started on scrums, and the complete inability of even elite referees to determine who and why a scrum might end up collapsing...

I was talking to a Yorkshire RU ref last week over a pint and this coming season he is going to explain the new scrum contact rules to the pack once then he will start to award penalties after the first offence.

I'm surprised he didn't say they are laws not rules, that what most people say when I make that heinous error

touché again

Very informative,I enjoy watching the ru six nations when Brian Moore waxes lyrically about the antics of the scrum and the tricks of the front row.
One of my pals was watching a recent tykes match with a senior ru referee, who was mystified at some of the scrum penalties being awarded by the referee.

Scrums are now so much more about how much power you can put into the initial hit and how long you can sustain it as well.

With increases in size and strength in the forwards, there's so much force going through that initial hit (even under crouch, bind, set) that it can be difficult for the props to control the bind. You've got a set of forces coming from the second rows behind you, and an opposing set of forces coming in the opposite direction. The second you lose your balance either your footing is going to go and the scrum collapses, or you're going to lose your bind just to try and stay on your feet.

The problem for the administrators is the entirely random way in which referees award penalties for scrum offences. I've seen sides who have been completely bossing the scrum area all game penalised for taking it down, when there's absolutely no reason for them to want to do so. Usually, it's because a player in the retreating scrum has done something to cause a collapse which the referee hasn't spotted and he's had to guess.

Talking to a West Park RU player and the same RU ref again today, regarding a recent game and they were both equally mystified re the decisions taken at many of the set scrums.