'Hate it when they tinker' - Dean Richards on the Champ Rugby rule change that gave Doncaster Knights something to think about
When Fijian centre Penaia Tagutu crashed over the tryline in the final quarter of Doncaster Knights’ opening Champ Rugby home game of the season, sighs of relief could be heard all around Castle Park – even if it created a dilemma.
For the hosts had finally put Hartpury to bed with their fourth try giving them a 14-point cushion.
But wherein over the past 26 years of second-tier rugby that fourth score would have meant a bonus point, this year the Champ is operating the “three tries more” rule more familiar in France and the southern hemisphere as a way or rewarding winning teams.
At that stage Doncaster led by four tries to two, and therefore were not earning a bonus point.
Dean Richards thought he had seen it all at 63 years old and with over four decades of English rugby under his belt – but he has clearly not seen everything.
“We were thinking about it with five minutes to go,” he said in the aftermath of a Doncaster victory that remained 29-15.
“Do you push ahead and risk conceding because if they score it gives them a point (with a converted try)?
“The players played it the way they did and it’s certainly given us food for thought.
"We’ll look at it differently going forward.
“It’s certainly made us think – I’m not sure if I’m ready to say it’s good or not,” before adding with a smile: “I hate it when they tinker with the rules, but that’s life.”
There were similar discussions being had between the players on the pitch.
Northern Irish winger Zach Kerr, inset, had scored Doncaster’s third try shortly after the hour mark and once Tagutu barrelled over 12 minutes later, he admits it was the cause of debate as they defended their line to try and preserve a second-half shutout.
“There was certainly a discussion about that, but the context of that is we were camped on our own line, 98, 99 metres away from their line,” said Kerr.
“The last thing we wanted to do was let them back into the game with an easy score.
“So we did talk about it, and if the opportunity presented itself we’d have taken it, but first job was, let’s get ourselves out of danger and put some pressure back on them.”
A try-bonus would have been nice, but Sunday’s job back on home soil was simple: get a first win of the Richards era and put to bed some of the mistakes made in the second-half collapse at Cornish Pirates when they were mauled into submission.
“Last week down in Cornwall was pretty disappointing,” admitted Kerr. “We had a pretty honest meeting about that on Tuesday and we were able to put out most of what we talked about on the pitch today, so that was really pleasing.
“I think the general feeling amongst us was we felt comfortable enough in defence and that’s a credit to us all; the coaches and the players.
“The last 25 minutes of last week was where we lost the game through a lack of discipline. This week, there were still issues and it’s still a work-on for us, not letting those teams in again, but it was better.”