Rugby Union

There's a lot to unpick; and it would be a lot easier if the full Opta stats were available, but I imagine either you have to pay for that, or be better at googling for it than me :) Its an article written for Kiwis so given all of those statistics would worry us I imagine there's been some cherry picking - but I do think 2 & 4 are a real worry for everyone.

2. reinforces that there's very little fluency in attack most top level international rugby these days which I reckon is a result of the way possession is rejected due to the strength of and favour shown to defence. Rugby has become almost entirely about territory now, and getting rid of the ball makes you less likely to give up penalties allowing the opposition to piggy back down field.

3. should be a massive concern for the people at World Rugby who actually care about player health (as opposed to the ones who just care about being sued for lack of care for player health). The tackle is the most risk area for head injuries and I'd argue there are way too many tackles happening and they are getting riskier as players are getting bigger and bigger.*

*and 6-2, 7-1 bench splits plus 100 minute games exacerbate that problem even further with bigger players staying active for longer in a game due to not fatiguing.