Pa Bear Hansen fears for future of game if changes not made

World Cup-winning All Blacks coach Sir Steve Hansen says the game of rugby is at a crossroads and strong changes need to be made or fans will lose interest.

Hansen told Newstalk ZB’s Sportstalk with D’Arcy Waldegrave that the stop-start nature of the game and the predictability of Super Rugby means the NRL is a better product to watch at the moment.

Just 12,000 fans turned up at Eden Park last Friday for the quarter-final victory against the Waratahs, almost half the crowd size that cheered on the Warriors against the Dolphins at Mt Smart earlier this month.

“I don’t know about falling out with the game but I think they’re falling out with a few things that are happening within the game, that’s frustrating people. It can be hard to watch at times,” Hansen told Newstalk ZB’s Sportstalk with D’Arcy Waldegrave.

“There’s no dispute that Super Rugby has to change. It’s pretty predictable and still stuck where it was four or five years ago. You go through the quarter-finals and it wasn’t that exciting as you knew who was going to win. Some of the ideas that have been floated by New Zealand Rugby and Australia are quite good ones, so let’s hope people are more flexible enough and more open enough to hear those ideas and maybe put them in place.

Asked by Waldegrave where he saw the game of rugby in 20 years’ time, Hansen said it was the immediate future he was concerned about.

“I haven’t stopped to think about where it’s going to be in 20 years, I’m more worried about where it’s going to be in five...I think we’re at the crossroads. Unless we make some strong changes and start listening to the people that want to come along and watch it then it will just be the participants playing it.”

Hansen said those in charge of Super Rugby need to take a lesson from the NRL, admitting the 13-man code was a better product.

”I look at NRL and New South Wales Racing and the guy in charge there, Peter V’landys, who has been really instrumental in making both these sports very popular. And his formula’s very simple. It’s all about what do the fans want, what do the participants want and give it to them.

“Both rugby unions need to sit down and really find out what it is the fans want and how we’re going to get them to engage in it and then deliver on that.

“If we’re being bone dead honest with ourselves it is at the moment. It [NRL] is a better game to watch on TV than rugby is, because it’s not stop-start. They apply a lot of common sense to how they adjudicate things and make sure the game keeps some form of flow to it. Our game over the last five years has got slower and slower and slower. But that’s because they’ve gone out and listened to what the fans want and then applied common sense to it.”

Hansen pin-pointed the number of red cards were hurting rugby and suggested a change in techniques could reduce headknocks.

“Rugby’s got some interesting things happening in it like red cards, TMOs, the stop-start nature of the game, the lack of cohesion between the Southern and the Northern hemispheres. All those things create a product that’s not consistent and it does mean people get frustrated with it. I think the desire’s there and just don’t think they know how they’re going to do it. We’re at a stage where we need to be bold and brave and attempt to do something,” Hansen told Newstalk ZB.

“The red card is at the bottom of the cliff. We’re not fixing the problem. Yes there is a problem that people are getting head injuries and we need to stop that. Red cards were introduced to stop foul play back in the day when it was people kicking someone or punching someone or swinging an arm - well you don’t get those in the game anymore or very few.

“What we’re getting now is getting a lot of head knocks, most of which are probably unintentional or poor technique.

“So rather than giving them a red card, let’s find a system that says ‘right we recognised that happened. We don’t want to muck the game up. We know it’s unintentional. We put it on report or a yellow card or something. And then we can go if it’s a technical probably you have then you can go and fix it here’s how we’re going to do it.

“We want young kids to come in and play the game, young boys and young girls. Mums and dads won’t be keen if kids are going to get knocked around too much. So how do we make it safer? Rather than just dishing out red cards what are we going to do? And we need to do it reasonably quickly. Need to apply common sense and look at the areas that need to be touched up.”

Hansen said a quick fix to get more fans to games is to change the kickoff times.

“Go to daytime games. This is my point about engaging with the fans and asking what do you want. What will make you come to the rugby? What experience will make you enjoy the rugby?

“There’s no doubt people prefer to go to daytime rugby than they do nighttime rugby. It’s better for the kids so it’s better for the parents. Let’s find out if that is factual and if it is start putting on the games then. And the broadcasters need to bend and come with us.”

This article was first published on nzherald.co.nz and is republished here with permission