THIS WORLD CUP needs to be remembered for brilliant individuals and attacking flair rather than rules and red cards according to the Rugby Weekly extra panellists.
The podcast for subscribers to The 42 heard that the balance has shifted from defensive systems having the upper hand to attacking players and their coaches finding a way to score more frequently.
“I think the World Cup will be remembered for three to four star players who are going to just transcend the game,” said Bernard Jackman, former Ireland hooker, “Dupont being at the core of it. Hopefully Johnny Sexton, fishing on a high. Hopefully personalities; there are phenomenal players at this World Cup, I think the law now facilitates attacking rugby.
“I think it’s the players who will be superstars. That’s the way its going to go now. Like in football, like in basketball. Rugby was never really supposed to be about that. It was about team, and I think team is really important but I can see this World Cup, in three or four years time as we go towards America for the next World Cup, we’ll be talking about the four to five players who just caught the public’s imagination in this one.
“I hope it’s not bunkers or laws or red cards. I hope it’s the players.”
Murray Kinsella, rugby journalist with The 42, said: “In that sense I feel it is going to be a bit of a tipping point. Sometimes we overstate the potential for the game to grow.
“Rugby is a niche sport. I don’t see it ever being near the level of football or other big sports. Most people aren’t going to go out and say ‘that looks like great fun to play’. It’s not going to have the appeal that football has. But I think there is scope for some growth there. And I think this is going to be a tournament where we see that happening. It looks like this is going to be a more modern looking World Cup where the style of rugby slanted towards attacking teams.”
Kinsella said attack coaches are starting to get the better of defence coaches, where previously that was the other way round.
“And also players are starting to embrace it a little more,” he said, “about being themselves, being individuals, being stars, and being content in that light and not thinking ‘Oh I can’t do that because I’m not a good teammate.
“Here’s hoping that the way Dupont is going with his trajectory into the mainstream massively in France is followed by a few more players, and the style of rugby is really attractive to people who only tune in for World Cups every four years and say, ‘I’m going to have a look at this and see how the rugby’s going’. Then they might just stick around for the next four years in between as well.”
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