SYDNEY : Former All Blacks assistant coach Wayne Smith has called for rugby authorities to remove the rolling maul from the game entirely, calling the tactic 'legalised obstruction'. Smith, one of the most highly regarded coaches in the game, led New Zealand's women to a World Cup triumph last year agains
SYDNEY : Former All Blacks assistant coach Wayne Smith has called for rugby authorities to remove the rolling maul from the game entirely, calling the tactic"legalised obstruction".
Smith, one of the most highly regarded coaches in the game, led New Zealand's women to a World Cup triumph last year against an England side who had turned the catch-and-drive into an almost unstoppable weapon on a 30-match winning streak. Kicking penalties for touch and driving a maul across the line from the ensuing lineout is also much used in the men's international game with world champions South Africa particularly adept at it."There are six or seven forwards in front of the ball. There is no access to the ball. It is legalised obstruction. I would get rid of it entirely.
Queensland Reds coach and former rugby league international Brad Thorn, who won the World Cup with Smith and the All Blacks in 2011, said such a change would chip away at what makes rugby union special."If you take away the maul, the scrum, the lineout - you might as well make it 10 metres back and you've got league.
"Everyone goes, 'you went from league to union, and the games are getting more similar now,' but they’re light years apart as a forward. There’s breakdowns, lineouts, we don’t have anything like that in league."
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