{"id":182298,"date":"2025-12-09T04:33:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-09T04:33:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/182298\/"},"modified":"2025-12-09T04:33:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-09T04:33:08","slug":"ross-byrne-says-escort-defender-crackdown-could-see-locks-converted-to-wings-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/182298\/","title":{"rendered":"Ross Byrne says escort defender crackdown could see locks converted to wings \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Gloucester outhalf Ross Byrne<\/a> believes international head coaches could convert second-rows into wings for the next men\u2019s Rugby World Cup in 2027 to capitalise on the crackdown on escort defenders.<\/p>\n

Last October World Rugby instructed referees to scrutinise and punish defending teams obstructing opponents chasing high contestable kicks, a move that has had a profound tactical impact on the elite game.<\/p>\n

The former Leinster number 10 said it is a \u201cbackward step\u201d and a \u201cnegative\u201d development that will fundamentally change the sport long term.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately I think it\u2019s changed how everybody plays,\u201d Byrne said. \u201cEverybody knows the stats: because of the new rules whoever kicks the ball is most likely to get it back. If those are the stats, which the top teams generally tend to follow, why would you not kick the ball?<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I was a head coach of a country right now and the World Cup\u2019s in two years, you\u2019re going: \u2018OK, is there anyone who\u2019s 19, 20, a second-row or back-row who\u2019s a really good athlete? Can we make him into a winger in two years? Go chase some kicks?\u2019 Genuinely, why would you not do that?\u201d<\/p>\n

Byrne added that current refereeing of the ruck makes kicking even more attractive, and that rugby union consequently risks becoming one-dimensional in terms of players\u2019 size.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe way the ball carrier can no longer roll or move [at the ruck] \u2013 it\u2019s made it harder to hold on to the ball, I would argue,\u201d Byrne said. \u201cThat\u2019s even more reason to kick. I think pretty much everybody\u2019s gone that way.<\/p>\n

\u201cI also think it is moving away from having a team full of an array of talent: [currently] you\u2019ve got some players who are unbelievably good footballers \u2013 kickers, passers, who read the game. Whereas now [under the new laws], we just need a couple of kickers and a load of good athletes to chase the ball. Do we need those small, silky backs any more? I don\u2019t think so. Why would we?\u201d<\/p>\n

The 30-year-old, who has 22 Ireland caps, also criticised the stop-start nature of the club season due to international windows. \u201cIt does annoy me that we have two massive international blocks,\u201d he said. \u201cYou don\u2019t see the Premier League stopping for four weeks [in November], and it certainly doesn\u2019t stop for six weeks, like during the Six Nations.\u201d<\/p>\n

After five consecutive Prem losses to start the campaign Gloucester have won their last two matches, against Harlequins in the league and Castres in the Champions Cup<\/a> last Saturday. This Saturday they visit Munster<\/a>, a significant fixture for a player who spent a decade at Leinster before moving to Kingsholm in the summer.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t wait,\u201d he said. \u201cThe atmosphere will be next-level. It\u2019ll be a tough game, it\u2019ll mean a lot to Munster, but for us to go there will be an unbelievable challenge. I think it\u2019ll show us where we are as a group.\u201d \u2014 Guardian<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Gloucester outhalf Ross Byrne believes international head coaches could convert second-rows into wings for the next men\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":182299,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[32728,61,60,11897,98968,112],"class_list":["post-182298","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-champions-cup","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-munster-rugby","tag-ross-byrne","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182298","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=182298"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182298\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/182299"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=182298"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=182298"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=182298"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}