At the end of the Six Nations this year I attended a World Rugby summit meeting with every coach and chief executive from all the leading nations around the globe. Among the key topics of discussion were the direction of travel for the game as we head towards the World Cup. If I could sum it up in one word it would be this: speed.
Speed, flow and ball in play time. We all want to see a quick game, we want fans to get more out of every game they watch. In the Premier League this season we’re seeing added time of 11 or 12 minutes due to a recognition that there is not enough ball-in-play time and rugby is no different. Put simply, how can we speed things up? It is not the introduction of new laws, just the greater application of existing ones.
