Your correspondent David Reed (League rules show a better way for rugby,Letters, 2 November) could hardly be more mistaken. The key and unique feature of rugby union is that the possession of the ball is contested at all times – including after the tackle. Without that element of the game we would not have the glory of players like Richie McCaw and David Pocock, and we would not have a game where players of the size and shape of Eben Etzebeth,Richie Gray or Adam Jones could shine and nor would we have the delight of seeing the way a team determined to keep the ball alive like Japan can triumph against the superior size and strength of the Springboks.
Rugby league is a worthy game, but it cannot demonstrate the variety that union offers – and the problems that exist in union are often the result of the lawmakers’ silly attempts to bring the doctrines of the 13-man game into the more widespread form of rugby or to tidy up the game by eliminating the contest for the ball that makes it so special.
Alasdair Bovaird
Saffron Walden, or EssexContinue reading...
Source: theguardian.com