Christian Scotland-Williamson has claimed that rugby can learn a lot from the NFL when it comesto talent identification in an exclusive interview with BOYLE Sports .
The former Worcester Warriors and Harlequins lock spoke candidly about the problems facing the sport of rugby including the saturated season and how the sport could learn from WWE when it comes to storytelling.
He also gave his view on whether Harry Kane could one day realise his ambition to become a kicker in the NFL and argues there’s no greater place than America to be an athlete
Rugby Can Learn From NFL!
I think talent identification is a big one. In the NFL, they want the best athletes on the pitch, no matter what. I think that rugby sometimes gets lulled into a culture where players that get on with the coaches are picked rather than the best players.
That's where I feel the diversity element comes in. Look at what Maro Itoje has done. It's incredibly important. You can't tell me that there aren’t a greater number of players out there from different backgrounds who will be more inclined to play.
That then increases the competition, which increases the product on the pitch because you've got better players. That's number one. Number two is the length of the season. The length of the rugby season is too long.
There needs to be more jeopardy in each game.
Saturated Season Issues
The season is so saturated that fans don’t care if they miss a game because there'll be another one to go and watch. In the NFL, there are only eight home games. People don’t want to miss out. So the revenues are huge.
A shorter, more meaningful season would help with player welfare. The length of the season needs to be reviewed. How can it be that clubs don’t get to play their stars during the Six Nations or the Autumn Internationals?
The NFL always builds in terms of how they structure the fixture list and the calendar. So they manufacture storylines, tension, moments that actually matter. Whereas when I was with Quins, we played Saracens twice, and you didn't see Marcus Smith playing against Owen Farrell when the storyline is who's going to be in the England ten.
Bringing The WWE Way To Rugby
Rugby needs to be more deliberate in that almost WWE way to create these proper storylines that matter, where you can have the matchups that you want to see, and which put bums on seats in the stadium and fans watching on television.
Who Takes Rugby To The Next Level?
Henry Cavill, Superman. He's from Jersey, and he’s a massive rugby fan and supported the Jersey Reds. I saw a photo of him in the changing room or something with loads of players.
So, Superman, yeah, Henry Cavill would probably be the best bet.
NFL Dream For Harry Kane?
I think if you're Harry Kane, anything's possible, to be honest.
I don't see why he couldn’t give it a go. It's not like he gets hit. It's a very specific skill, and obviously, the pressure involved in kicking is probably akin to taking a penalty; although you have to kick a spot that you don't see yet. The ball's not there when you line it up, and then you have to trust your holder to get the hold right, and then you kick, so it takes a lot of practice.
But with the career that he's had and the mental resilience and the determination he has, you wouldn't put it past him, especially that he’s financially secure forever. If he wanted to do that as a side gig, I'm sure there's a team that would give him a try.
No Greater Place And Platform Than America.
There's no greater place and platform than America. So being able to have positive interaction, positive messaging coming from that tournament, where you're opening yourself up to a huge number of eyeballs to really see the sport’s ability in terms of being able to commercialise and take a step forward into what the new commercial landscapes are for all sports.
The media side of the sport is the one element in particular that rugby has really struggled with. It’s a young professional sport, but the commercial power comes from the storylines, and it comes from the attention that can garner. Rugby must grasp that.
It's a 360-year-old experience for the fan, where you need documentaries, for instance. But the Six Nations documentary didn't do that. It didn’t excite. I don't think it had the right access. It didn’t feel authentic. It felt very sanitised and pre-approved.
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