International Rugby @ £32 Per Minute - No Thanks

I SAW an interesting statistic from Saturday's Third Test between the Springboks and the British and Irish Lions. Apparently “ball-in-play time” for the match was 26 minutes and 22 seconds, over the 80 minutes “playing time.”

OK, there were no fans at the match in Cape Town, however, when normality returns, hopefully by the time of the Autumn Internationals, I would like to think something has been done to sort out this absolute disgrace.

The World Champion, Series-Winning South Africans are coming to BT Murrayfield in November. The cheapest tickets are £26 per head, the most-expensive £75 per head.

However, if you want to go up-market, the SRU offers hospitality packages, at three levels:

The Thistle Suite costs £425 + VAT per person, for which you get a three-course meal with wines, access to a private bar and top-level seats.

For an additional £100 per person, guests in the Murrayfield Boxes, which can accommodate up to 14 people get access to the only hospitality section where you don't have to move from your seat to either eat or watch the games. That's your view in the picture above. Again you get a three-course meal and wines and have access to a private bar. This package also includes half-time snacks and a post-match supper.

The Centenary Club is the newest concept in hospitality packages, promising fine dining, tables for between two and ten people, a dedicated host and so forth.

All of the hospitality packages include appearances by Legends of the game, direct access from the stadium concourse and all the bells and whistles you might expect when paying (with VAT) between £510 and £834 per head.

OK, I accept all the fine dining, the waiting and bar staff and the factotums involved don't come cheap, but, the reason for being there is to watch top-level rugby. The SRU's marketing guys go big on: “The Murrayfield Match-Day Experience.”

If I am paying big bucks for that experience, I want to see more than 26 minutes of play, between scrums collapsing and being re-set, pre-line-out conferences by the forwards, lengthy adjudications with the TMO and pauses while the goal kicker has a drink, discusses his line with the caddy who brings on the kicking tee and places the ball for kicks at goal.

To save you the trouble, I've done the calculations; for a Springboks v Lions level of actual play, that works out at £32 per minute you would be paying. 

The ultimate level of professional football is probably NFL games of American Football, where matches last an average of three hours and 12 minutes, from kick-off until final whistle. Between visiting the fans zone, the pre-game tail-gate party and the post-game review, an NFL game can be pretty-much an all-day affair. However, actual playing time is 60 minutes; but, that is ball-in-play time.

Certainly, when a team is in possession of the football, they are able to slow things down or speed it up, depending on the state of play, but, the fan knows when he or she goes into the game – they will see the designated hour of actual play.

In contrast, fans going into a rugby match at the top level today, are going to pay a lot of money to see players standing around doing nothing. If Rugby Union is to have a future in the professional era – we have to seriously look at upping the ball-in-play time.

In theory this should be easily done; simply stop the clock when the ball goes out of play or the referee blows for an infringement, re-start it when play resumes. At scrums, start the clock when the ball is put-in, stop it when the referee signals a scrum collapse or orders a re-set.

Stop the clock for kicks, but, be stricter on the time the kicker has to get his or her kick away, and we should maybe look at reducing the time allowed for taking kicks at goal. I would also like to see scrum-halves more often getting the hurry-up when it comes to clearing from rucks.

Playing a full 80 minutes ball-in-play time might be a bit long, we might have to reduce actual playing time to say 70 minutes, or perhaps follow American Football and go down to one hour's playing time. But, it would be a start. As I said above, over £800 to see 26 minutes of play, no thank you, a bit rich for me.

This next suggestion might upset some of my near-contemporaries, those of us who have been watching Scotland since the dark days of the 1950s and the 17 straight losses, but, today's supporter does want that “Match-Day Experience.” They want a bit of additional razz-matazz. If the game was to go to ball-in-play time, well, with the right stadium dee-jay pumping up the volume during the breaks, that experience might be enhanced and a younger audience attracted.

Let's give it a try.