From the right way to play to how to continue the minnows’ progress, there has been plenty to talk about in France so far. Rugby World Cup fans worldwide are called to book RWC 2023 tickets from our online platform eticketing.co Rugby fans can book Rugby World Cup Tickets on our website at exclusively discounted prices.

Rugby World Cup 2023 will shape the game’s future 

At the Part-Dieu station in Lyon late on Sunday, a lone young man in a hoodie sat down at a piano tucked away from the main concourse and began to play. He was extraordinarily good, to the point that people started looking for hidden TV cameras. As the sounds of his mini-concert rose, it reminded me of Ian Foster’s thought-provoking remark after New Zealand’s brilliant 96-17 win over Italy.

Foster could have made his point a little more clearly, but to some extent he was speculating about what rugby might look like in five, 10 or 20 years, given the current backdrop of player welfare issues. Will it mirror Ireland’s match against South Africa, so physical the stands are shaking? Or are they more reminiscent of the evasive, running game that the All Blacks clearly specialize in?

Foster’s Perspective on Rugby

Tonight was a different spectacle and at some point the world will have to decide which game it chooses to watch, Foster said. What most people will say is that they actually do enjoy top quality rugby, whatever form it takes. But Foster’s words did highlight a fundamental problem. Rugby fans can buy Rugby World Cup Semi Finals Tickets on our website at exclusively discounted prices.

Many smaller rugby nations will never match the strength of their larger counterparts. Which ultimately limits the global growth of the sport. And if rugby simply becomes a game for muscular pianists, its shelf life will be severely limited. On the other hand, if it remains a game for (the rugby equivalent of) deft pianists, it will instantly become more inclusive and multi-dimensional. Rugby needs the business end of this tournament to fire the neutral imagination even more than the first four weeks did.

The bigger picture needs attention Imagine the scene

A tram heads to the Geoffroy-Guichard stadium in Saint-Etienne. On board are Portuguese fans on their way to watch Os Lobos play against Australia. Their enthusiasm is contagious, and the wolf-themed fur hats are also a lot of fun. Good-natured howling sounds can be heard from time to time in the carriage. Upon arrival at the stadium there were Portuguese children everywhere and they were all clearly enjoying themselves.

Once the game starts, things get even better. Os Lobos play a fast-paced, agile game of rugby that everyone enjoys. Why bother with boxing kicks when you can run 50 meters quickly and vigorously? “That’s great dad, when is their next big game?Not sure, but potentially in 2027…

Now more than ever, it is vital to the global future of rugby that the Portuguese of this world are not given a condescending pat on the head and sent packing for another four years. What is the point of the mooted 12-team league of nations from the rest of the world’s point of view? Or a Six Nations Championship that no other European team can qualify for? If rugby really wants to grow, it will have to tear down the old “tier one” barricades.

Review the tournament structure 

This World Cup is undoubtedly too long. The teams have been in France for more than a month, and we still have to complete the group stages. There is also no doubt that the public switches off in the middle of the week when there are almost no games.

Solution? A 24-team World Cup with six groups of four has some potential downsides, but we might already be through the last 16 teams and looking forward to the quarter-finals. Meanwhile, the remaining eight teams may be looking forward to the plate competitions, which will take place in smaller stadiums on a midweek evening in a festival of rugby atmosphere. More danger, less sledgehammer-meets-nut inevitability, less stop-start atmosphere.

Another alternative is to simply have 16 teams and shorten the length of the competition. Good in theory, but then how can we guarantee that the United States, the hosts of the tournament in 2031, will be able to qualify for its own tournament? In any case, there is no point in drawing lots three years in advance and setting up a situation where the two best teams in the world disappear in the quarter-finals…

Scrap the bunker Look

On paper it was a decent idea. Take some pressure off referees, relegate controversial decisions to the review silo and allow more time for correct decisions to be made regarding red and yellow cards. In practice, this is simply adding another layer of confusion and video proceedings that have done little to clarify what constitutes a red card offense and what does not. It’s like stopping a driver at every traffic light while the CCTV system is check.

It is much better, of course, to return control of the game to the referee, with a citing officer on hand to do the rest after the game. So there’s no need for the artificial “he, isn’t he?” a farce that, in Eddie Jones’s fair opinion, upsets spectators and leads to a deterioration in the matchday atmosphere. Clear hits to the head may still called, but less obvious hits may treated with yellow cards and subject to post-game review without having to stop the clock.

Or, as will happen at some stage, lower the legal tackle height to the base of the sternum, as is now required in the social club game. And leave the screens to showcase the great skills on display, not just cringe-inducing stuff.

Promote the World Cup’s stars 

Who is the standout player in this tournament so far? Here are half a dozen names, in no particular order: Caelan Doris and Bandi Aki from Ireland, Levani Botia and Vaisea Nayakalevu from Fiji, Antoine Dupont from France and Jacques Morgan from Wales. With the possible exception of Dupont, whose face (beaten or not) is scattered all over France, how many of them is instantly recognizable to the casual sports fan in, say, New York or Delhi? Not many of them are the truthful answer.

It is even more strange that videos of great attempts or amazing skills is so strictly control on social networks. Of course there are the inevitable rights issues, but equally this is rugby’s ‘Look at me’ moment. Or it should be. Access to player interviews has never more tightly controlled, nor has there been any apparent desire to appeal to anything other than a captive audience. Stadiums have more grim security officers with guns than cheerful volunteers helping to get people into the stadium. When it comes to putting their best foot forward, rugby could still do a lot better.

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