Varsity Cup is a tournament between the top colleges and universities of South Africa, typically in February and March. Since the 2013-season, a new scoring system was introduced with the goal of encouraging running rugby. College-level rugby is often used to experiment with new rules and sometimes it gets brought up to regional (and eventually international) level.
Old scoring system:
Try - 5 points
Conversion - 2 points
Drop goal - 3 points
Penalty goal - 3 points
2013/2014 system:
Try - 5 points
Conversion - 3 points
Drop goal - 2 points
Penalty goal - 2 points
The theory is that teams will be rewarded for playing a running, high-scoring game with lots of tries (instead of relying on a goal-kicking flyhalf), since a converted try is now worth more and one converted try = four penalties / drops as opposed to the previous three penalties / drops > one converted try.
Now, while the increased emphasis on tries seems like a positive thing for the viewers and in turn for the sponsors, I'm not sure if it will have a positive effect on the players and on South African rugby in general.
One reasonable question would be if the new rules will really lead to more tries. It's been two years now and there's not that much difference between Varsity Cup and other tier-3 competitions, like the Vodacom Cup.
Tying in with that would be whether coaches will consider picking running flyhalves over kicking flyhalves. The conversion becomes more important, but you only get to kick for goal if you score a try, so it's a problem if the flyhalf is too one-dimensional.
The other big concern would be the conceding of penalties - teams are effectively only punished two-thirds as much as they are used to, meaning that players (especially the loose-forwards) will probably end up nurturing a less disciplined playing style, harming the regional teams in the long run.
So what do YOU think? Is a three-point conversion better than a three-point drop goal?
Old scoring system:
Try - 5 points
Conversion - 2 points
Drop goal - 3 points
Penalty goal - 3 points
2013/2014 system:
Try - 5 points
Conversion - 3 points
Drop goal - 2 points
Penalty goal - 2 points
The theory is that teams will be rewarded for playing a running, high-scoring game with lots of tries (instead of relying on a goal-kicking flyhalf), since a converted try is now worth more and one converted try = four penalties / drops as opposed to the previous three penalties / drops > one converted try.
Now, while the increased emphasis on tries seems like a positive thing for the viewers and in turn for the sponsors, I'm not sure if it will have a positive effect on the players and on South African rugby in general.
One reasonable question would be if the new rules will really lead to more tries. It's been two years now and there's not that much difference between Varsity Cup and other tier-3 competitions, like the Vodacom Cup.
Tying in with that would be whether coaches will consider picking running flyhalves over kicking flyhalves. The conversion becomes more important, but you only get to kick for goal if you score a try, so it's a problem if the flyhalf is too one-dimensional.
The other big concern would be the conceding of penalties - teams are effectively only punished two-thirds as much as they are used to, meaning that players (especially the loose-forwards) will probably end up nurturing a less disciplined playing style, harming the regional teams in the long run.
So what do YOU think? Is a three-point conversion better than a three-point drop goal?