Former New Zealand head coach Sir Steve Hanson has criticised World Rugby’s proposed changes to improve the sport.
The governing body put forward five ideas to speed up the game and improve fans’ experience, but Hansen was let down by the plans.
“Without having all the detail behind them, I suppose that’s not fair. But their first one there about speed and flow of the game, there’s no mention of getting rid of TMOs and things like that that are stopping the game for so long,” he told Newstalk ZB.
“They’re doing that (referee’s ‘use it’ call) anyway. Are they really going to achieve what they want just scratching the surface, or are they going to go deep enough and actually do what the fans would love them to do?
“I’m not sure how often World Rugby go to their fans. In my time they never came to the coaches very often and just reading what they’ve written here, I don’t think it’s enough.
“Common sense is an overused word because it’s not that common. Sometimes we complicate things by searching for answers by overthinking the question. The question is, what do they want? What does our game need to make it faster and more enjoyable to watch for you as a fan? Or you as a player? You as a coach? You as a referee?
“Then compile the answers and [find] the common threads. Then it’s how can we create solutions to these common threads? Or how can we create a way to play the game that these common threads come together?”
