'Losing the spectacle': Passionate pre-Origin plea to rugby
Stan commentator Sean Maloney has issued a passionate plea for rugby officials to help deliver an attractive product for the home Wallabies Tests in July.
The comments came in the wake of a tough watch between South Africa and Wales at Twickenham at the weekend.
Maloney said the longest continuous passage of play in the match was just 98 seconds while there were also two and five-minute stoppages as Irish referee Chris Busby consulted television match official Mark Patton over potential foul play.
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Referee Chris Busby checks an action with the TMO at Twickenham.
"Five full minutes!" Maloney lamented on Stan Sport's Between Two Posts.
"I'm just begging the TMO and refs to try and keep the games moving when we come here. We're about to watch Origin (rugby league) on Wednesday night here in Australia, which will have 3.5 million (viewers) in Australia, across the country, watching on Channel Nine, ball constantly in play. We just can't have that as our first up.
"If that happens in Sydney, people will just be losing their minds. Just please, fellas, keep it moving. Please, ladies, keep it moving."
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Referee Mathieu Raynal speaks to the Wallabies.
Frenchman Pierre Brousset will referee the opening Australia vs Wales Test on July 6 while Georgia's Nika Amashukeli will control the second on July 13.
New Zealand's James Doleman then holds the whistle for the Wallabies vs Georgia clash on July 20.
"Our showpiece event is a Wallabies match," Maloney said.
NEW PODCAST! Sean Maloney, Morgan Turinui and Stephen Hoiles debate how to improve the rugby product in Australia
https://omny.fm/shows/between-two-posts-1/chat-for-another-day-special/embed?in_playlist=podcast&style=Cover
"Rugby league's showpiece event is the State of Origin. You've got to have it entertaining. And the TMO and the ref control so much of that. That's all I'm saying."
Randwick coach Stephen Hoiles said long stoppages were also a blight on Sydney's Shute Shield competition where tired players were milking the clock through apparent injuries or issues with boots.
Hoiles said such delays could be overcome in other codes.
"Some of the great sports that we like seeing in the USA - basketball for example, NFL, there is copious amounts of stoppages, but because there's timeouts called, it becomes tactical and the audience gets involved in it," the former Wallabies forward said.
"And the crowd entertainment is designed to keep the audience at the game activated and enjoying the moment, whereas in rugby it just stops. They might put a little bit of music on, but the game isn't set up to have the stoppages that we have from a broadcast point of view or an on field, at ground entertainment.
"There'll be five stoppages in the last three minutes of a basketball game, but you're constantly entertained because you'll be sitting there going 'they need to take a time out now'.
"It becomes part of the the game. But when one (rugby) player goes down because he's injured, three or four runners come on from both sides. No one likes to see that."
The world champion Springboks have been crafty at milking the clock to allow their powerful forwards time to catch their breath.
"Every knock on or forward pass that results in a scrum now is a sign to everyone that there's a break in the game," Morgan Turinui said.
Rassie Erasmus speaks to his players during the first Test.
"It's not a break in the game. If you're under the pump, five metres out from your own line, you are 100 per cent guaranteed someone goes down. A very powerful group in our game is the referees.
"If we can give them the power to just push hard on some of these things - (Australia's) Nic Berry did an outstanding job on the weekend (in the Super Rugby Pacific final). He cleaned up that breakdown."
Rugby is generally in good heath in Europe and Japan but is losing ground in Australia.
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"We are losing the spectacle," Hoiles said.
"AFL - they are just destroying the Australian market at the moment. Sydney's just Swans and GWS fans.
"There's always something happening. The game of rugby is at its best when people are exhausted on the field."