Room 101: Clive Griffiths – Doncaster Director of Rugby
I’ve remained in St Helens ever since I ‘went North’ in the late 70’s. Given the fact I’ve coached at London Welsh, Cardiff, Newport, Worcester and Doncaster, twice, that means I’ve clocked up quite a few miles over the years. A lot of my time on road has been spent caught up in traffic, because the M62 can be a nightmare if you catch it at the wrong time. When you first see the 40mph speed restriction signs your heart sinks. 40 miles an hour? It’s more like standstill. Thank goodness for hands-free, that’s all I say, because at least it means you can use the time to make a few calls. Some of my best deals have been done stuck bumper-to-bumper somewhere in the Pennines!
TRP verdict: Life really does begin at 60. You’re in.
2.Scrum penalties
I appreciate what the law makers are trying to do in terms of tidying up the scrum and protecting the players, but my experience tells me we’ve still got a fair way to go before the scrum is properly managed. A lot of the time when the scrum collapses you might as well toss a coin as to who gets a penalty. It can’t be right that a humdinger of a match, where the teams have been going at each other hammer and tongs for 79 minutes, can be decided because a prop has lost his bind or the referee had misread the situation. Why not reduce the value of a penalty and a drop- goal to two points and use the sin-bin more effectively to punish serial scrum and other offenders. At the moment a penalty and drop-goal are worth 60 per cent of the points you get for a try, and that try could have involved some wonderful skills and exciting, length of the field rugby.
TRP verdict: What a bind indeed. Well done on another excellent choice.
3.Prime Minister’s Question Time
I used to find the debates at Prime Minister’s Question Time highly amusing. The PM gets up and puts forward his ideas and then is immediately contradicted by the opposition leader, while both sides of the House bay at each other across the divide. Crikey, these people are supposed to be running our country!
TRP verdict: ‘Hear, hear’ is what we say. 3/3
