What is Rugby?

To the uninformed and unenlightened in North America, the stereotypical rugby player is thick-headed and self-destructive. Those of us fortunate enough to play the sport know that the reverse is often the case.

So it is with some shock that I watched England – the originators of the ‘game played in heaven’ – self-destruct against Ireland today in round 3 of the 2009 Six Nations Championship. If you are new to rugby or maybe only follow your local rugby scene, let me remind you that England won the Rugby World Cup in the fall of 2003, just over 5 years ago.

Manager Martin Johnson shows his disgust at the lack of discipline by his players.

Despite their clear ability to perform at the highest levels, today I witnessed England continuously kill the ball and commit penalties. In fact, it reminded me of their match against Scotland at the 2008 Championship. Even though the coach has changed, the tactics have not.

As my calls for true leadership and creativity in the England national coaching team go unanswered, lets use this opportunity to examine the refereeing of the last two England matches.

Last week, many folks blamed England’s loss to Wales on Jonathon Kaplan (South Africa) as he sent two Englishmen to the sin bin (and did not penalize Wales for similar infractions). This week, England again played 20 minutes with only 14 players, and for very deserving penalties. The yellow cards came at the hands of another South African referee, Craig Joubert.

Based on this clear pattern of killing the ball, I wonder if the referees are more severely punishing England due to their clear disregard for the laws of the game. As the IRB got involved when England backs coach Brian Smith openly criticized Jonathon Kaplan following the Welsh test, I am sure Joubert was watching English closely today. At the local level, I have certainly had those referee meetings (during a tournament, for example) where a team or player was given extra attention by the referees due to previous disregard for the laws.

If England are being more closely watched by the referees (and the fact that the Welsh were not penalized as severely as the English supports this notion) I think this is completely appropriate. The onus is then on the team to keep a good ‘reputation’ by respecting the laws.

However, selectively applying the laws is in contrast to the spirit of open competition as the teams are not competing on equal footing. In one sense, it’s 16 players vs. 15 (or even 14). I guess that’s the price you pay for poor discipline, poor strategy, or not learning from your mistakes … survival of the smartest indeed.

What do you think ?