Rugby Union: A case of quick, quick, flow

Jonathan Davies welcomes the age of the high-scoring, free-wheeling game

I Could hardly believe my ears when I heard that Llanelli had drawn 10-10 with Bath in the Anglo-Welsh League last week. It wasn't that I doubted Llanelli's ability to hold the West Country wonders - if my old rugby league rival Frano Botica had kicked with his usual accuracy the Scarlets would have won - it was the size of the scoreline that surprised me.

Union has become such a free-scoring game that a total of 20 points seems so small. In the First Division of the Courage League last week, the average number of points scored per match was over 55. In Wales the average was over 62 points. Harlequins, Swansea and Melrose, the top club teams in England, Wales and Scotland, had been scoring at the rate of around 50 points a game before yesterday.

This doesn't mean that you can't have an exciting, low- scoring match but the trend istowards blitz figures. The contrast with scoring rates of even a few years ago is staggering and if you've been brought up on grinding battles interrupted by the occasional try, I suppose the sudden increase in touch- downs can be bewildering. The traditionalists don't approve.

But it is good for the game's appeal and a massive improvement on the days dominated by the boot. Many matches, internationals included, became little more than a duel between penalty-kickers. Sensible rule changes that favour the attacking side and the introduction of the five-point try helped the transformation. But the recent surges of movement and continuous action have come from a fresh attitude among teams.

Similar changes happened in rugby league before I left. The new rule which meant that the defending team had to back off 10 instead of five yards from the play-the-ball has given more space to develop attacks and has brought more open and faster games. It also means tired players towards the end and that has helped produce record scores.

When I returned to union, which was less than a year ago, I found the game very slow in comparison. But it has quickened up remarkably this season and teams are far more prepared to vary their attacking options. In my previous spell in union, the tactical approach to the game was much more rigid and the proceedings were only enlivened when an adventurous half-back would try something different. Now every player on the park has taken the expansive game to heart. Previously, a penalty in your opponents' half meant that play would stop while your kicker trundled up. Now, you are more likely to see the quick tapped penalty. And if the attacking side is quick enough to catch the opposition offside, the referee gives them another one 10 yards on.

It is so difficult to defend against a team determined to drive at you. If you kill the ball, there's another penalty. If it gets buried in the ruck, the referee usually gives the scrum to the advancing side and the new binding laws mean that scrums are a much better launching pad.

Even kicking for touch is going out of fashion. Line-outs tend to go with the throw these days so, unless you are desperate to gain ground, a kick to touch is virtually giving the ball away - and that is the big sin. In my earlier days, we would talk about second-phase possession, sometimes third phase. Now, we are talking 10th, 11th and 12th-phase ball. And, like in league, players are getting tired because the ball is alive for longer periods and big gaps start appearing later on.

The influence of the Tri- Nations' Cup in the summer was tremendous and that's where we saw the real high-scoring potential. A team can no longer run up a 20-point lead and sit on it. Wales tried against France the other week and were caught out. A couple of converted tries can change the course of a match so the need to keep on attacking is strong and is creating some thrilling finishes. In Wales, we have the extra incentive of bonus points for piling up tries.

No doubt, defences will improve but at the moment the high scores are here to stay and represent a vital phase towards improving standards.