RUGBYused to be big on ‘the ethos of the game’, ensuring it stayed immune to all those nasty bits of gamesmanship used by the dastardly professionals in soccer, like taking the ball to the corner flag and running the clock down.
Attitudes have changed so much that the right to waste time on the field is now enshrined in law, not in football but in the code which still professes to defend the ‘spirit’ of the game.
The law allowing a kicker 90 seconds after a try has been awarded in which to complete the conversion makes it perfectly legal to waste time on an embarrass...