Is the rolling maul still relevant in modern rugby
With high penalty counts and subsequently penalty goals resulting from rolling mauls, are they ruining the spectacle of the game?
In many respects, this follows on from my previous article on whether the forwards game is entertainment, and indeed Michael's article on whether the scrum still has a place in the professional game.
Rugby has been dominated by the divide between it's two branches since 1895, when League (then the Northern Rugby Football Union) broke away from it's Union counterpart over the professionalism in the sport, with union remaining amateur. From then, League has refined itself to be a game of open running rugby. How have they done this? Take away all the events that would slow down the game. There are no rucks or mauls, scrums are something of a formality, and they have removed two players from the field of play to create more space. And this is where I feel many would have the game of rugby union go, but in doing so, the key areas that epitomise our wonderful sport are too easily forgotten.
There is a superb quote from the inimitable Jean-Pierre Bodis that sums up what the game of rugby is about:
A sport that is strage, singular, complex and undoubtably perverse in its inextricable and existential mix of violence and inteligence, power and shrewdness, of the exercise of force and mastery of technique; difficult to understand for the layman - and at times the initiate.
And therein lies the key: power & force. It is a key aspect of the game of rugby. Indeed you could be instrumental to the outcome of a match in which you were competing without necessarily touching the ball at all during the game. And this brings me back to the matter in hand, the maul.
The maul is a key component to the game of rugby and can highlight the dominance that one pack has over another. One of the points raised by the accusers are the number of penalties it leads to when it collapses, leading to yet more kicks at goal. I would disagree, suggesting that the dominance of the forwards is rewarded with penalty goals. To the same end, dominance in the scrums is rewarded with penalites when the opposition capitulate. As Jean-Pierre Bodis suggests, this battle of raw power is one of the defining aspects of the game of rugby union - without it, we might as well all just play Rugby League.
At risk of repeating myself: 'forwards win games, backs decide by how much.'
Filed under:
Spirit Of The Game
Written by: Edward Kerr
Follow: @edwardrkerr · @therugbymag
