[...] So therefore we end up with counterintuitive rules that cause stoppages for scrum and maul infringements but are designed to ultimately create the opportunity for attacking play or prevent it from being foiled. So in response papabear, I would say that you have to put up with the boring bits to see KB (Kurtley Beale) and QC (Quade Cooper) in full flight.
That's a good point. The league equivalent of stopping play to create an attacking opportunity would be the ruck and play the ball, where only 3-4 players are allowed in the ruck and then everyone runs back 10 meters. The difference is for scrums and mauls, there's still something happening up until the play breaks open or a penalty occurs; in league, play actually stops by design after every tackle.
So from a spectator's point of view, your choices are either to watch the storm that occurs at the breakdown and set piece until play breaks open, or just watch play stop completely until the next phase and hope play breaks open on that phase. In a way, league's response to the set piece is kind of like playing gridiron without an offensive or defensive line, just the backs and receivers. (And if watching big blokes collide were really so boring, NFL wouldn't be as popular as it is.)
The strange thing, at least to me, is that while league promotes its use of space (mainly by dropping two players), it doesn't seem to be utilized as efficiently as in union. After everyone backs off 10 meters for the play the ball, both sides fan out, and the next phase pretty much occurs within a 10-20 meter-wide strip of the field (dummy half, pass, hit-up). Since there's a limited number of tackles, most sides are loath the kick the ball ahead to exploit space -- the Warriors are often called creative because they sometimes kick on 4th tackle. But that means that most teams aren't making use of all that extra space, and most of a league game occurs east-to-west, except on 5th tackle and then it's only used effectively when they're within 15-20 meters of the try line.
Rugby, on the other hand, is far more likely to move east-to-west and north-to-south, especially with fullback up-and-unders. Since they're not limited by a tackle count, teams are more free to exploit space in behind when it presents itself, so you see more kick-throughs cross-kicks that don't just occur on 5th tackle.
I dunno, just an observation. To be fair, the limitations imposed on league can force some creative play. League's structure is like a marching song compared to rugby's free jazz.
I don't know if I could easily head to my nearest Super Rugby club -- that's at least a 24 hour plane ride away. I'm not even sure I could offer anything all that useful. I am kind of fascinated with how much wrestling I see in both codes, though. I don't think it's implemented very effectively in league, unless the only real purpose is to slow and stop play. League wrestling is almost all upper-body, and even in greco-roman wrestling new rules have been brought in to make sure action actually occurs and the competitors don't just squeeze each other to death. But beyond just how wrestling works in union scrums, I also see a lot of it in tackles, rucks and clean-outs, especially with things like the can-opener -- that's a front headlock position we'd use to either as a set-up in collegiate wrestling or as a scoring technique in freestyle/greco.
The weird thing for me is seeing so many tackles now being called dangerous/tip tackles. Often that same move would be perfectly fine on a mat, and in international wrestling, those sorts of takedowns used to be awarded up to 5 points for amplitude (exposing the opponent's back to the mat while having him controlled in the air). Now it's just 2 for the takedown and 2 for back exposure, no extra point for height. I understand how such tackles could be dangerous in rugby -- they're not falling on a mat, there are other people around and it's less controlled, and they're probably not trained to fall safely. It's just odd seeing something I've done since I was a kid being called dangerous.
Here's a takedown finish from the 2009 Worlds freestyle -- that's points all day in wrestling, but probably a red card in rugby.
