Be careful what you wish for when looking for ways to potentially improve rugby

The quarter-finals of this year’s World Cup between New Zealand and Ireland on the Saturday and France v South Africa the next day were as good as any in the history of the event.

CLASSIC CLASH: Ireland's Bundee Aki scores his side's first try during the Rugby World Cup 2023 quarter final against New Zealand. Photo credit: Adam Davy/PA Wire.

ANOTHER week, another set of ideas for how rugby union can be improved. Another year, another panoply of breathtaking matches, any one of which, if they had taken place in the distant amateur era, would be hailed by those “who were there” as legendary.

Last week Warren Gatland became the latest to offer his thoughts on how the game might move on. But in this age of social media incontinence we are never far from a thoughtless rant about how awful the game has become.