Title-winning coach Ewen McKenzie has lamented the number of Super Rugby derby games played in round one as players struggled with officiating and fans endured a dearth of tries.
The extended 2012 competition kicked off on the weekend with a rare round where not one team earned a bonus-point victory for scoring four tries in the seven matches.
There were fewer than three tries per game while 59 penalty goals (an average of 8.4) were kicked as whistle-happy referees were super strict in detecting ruck infringements.
McKenzie’s Queensland Reds were the great championship-winning entertainers of 2011 but showed little flair as they grafted a 25-21 win over arch-rivals NSW when their sole try came after the siren.
There was even more kicking in the Brumbies’ scrappy 19-17 win over the Western Force in Canberra as both sides desperately fought for field position.
The Reds will again prepare for another torrid interstate battle when they meet the Force in Brisbane on Saturday night, followed by a round three clash with Melbourne Rebels.
The annual early-season clampdown by referees on breakdown infringements is always designed to set the ground rules to improve ruck discipline and ensure play frees up.
But McKenzie said the tightness of win-at-all-costs derbies and conservative game plans accentuated the lack of attack.
“It’s a pity that all these derby games turn up at the front of the season,” he said.
“We’d like to express ourselves but we know that teams will come and try and slow things down and try and make a real dogged contest out of it.”
A number of breakdown penalties against the attacking team prompted McKenzie to call SANZAR referees boss Lyndon Bray for an explanation on Monday.
“For the game to work properly you have to be refereeing the defence first,” he said.
“You have to have the confidence to attack and that’s why these first three weeks can be awkward.
“You’re still trying to find out exactly how the game’s going to be played and you don’t want to get caught out by it.
“It’s a bit of a balancing act at the moment and everyone understands why.”
Generally pleased with his officials, Bray said the defending team was penalised twice as much as the attacking team, although he admitted some referees were too quick to punish minor technical offences at times.
He expected play to improve as teams gelled better on top of adapting to law interpretations.
Better teams, he said, had already adapted well to clean-up stipulations that players stay on their feet at the tackle contest.
Bray was most impressed by the reduction of scrum resets, with the average number of efficient scrums rising from 45 per cent in 2011 to almost 60 per cent in round one, and tipped free-flowing attack to return in the coming weeks.
“You find by round three, four and five that teams are back in the groove and (adapted to) your patterns and trends,” he said.
“I think if you’re looking at what we’re trying to work on improving with more space and better scrums round one was very successful.”