So, who have been the busiest people so far in this new rugby season? Well, that’s an easy one. It’s the scoreboard operators!
They’ve hardly had time to draw breath given the way the matches have gone during the opening weeks of the campaign in both the United Rugby Championship and the Gallagher Premiership. Looking at the results, it’s more what we are used to seeing in Super Rugby down in the southern hemisphere rather than in the traditionally more prosaic northern game.
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Just take a quick glance and the scorelines will jump out at you: 39-55, 43-42, 52-24, 41-39, 37-42, 40-36. You certainly couldn’t complain about the entertainment value if you were at any of those games. If you dig a little deeper, you do get a sense that something is happening out there.
In the English Premiership, only four of the 18 matches so far have seen less than 50 points scored. Last weekend, four of the six games saw 70 or more points posted, with Exeter’s thrilling 43-42 victory over Harlequins topping the pile with 85.
It’s a similar story in the URC. The eight fixtures in last weekend’s second round produced 514 points at an average of 64.25 per game. All but one of them served up more than 50 points. It was also an absolute try fest, with 65 touchdowns, just over eight per match on average.
It was down in Llanelli that the folk on the scoreboard were busiest of all, with Ulster beating the Scarlets 55-39. That set a new high for the campaign in both competitions in terms of points scored (94), while there were no fewer than 12 tries in all.
So what’s going on? Is this just an early season blip on firm surfaces dried by so little rain over the past few months? Or are we seeing something of a trend developing?
The points bonanza certainly hasn’t gone unnoticed by Cardiff director of rugby Dai Young, with his own team’s first two URC matches having delivered 99 points and 15 tries.
“If you look, there have been lots of real high scores across the board. There are more and more 4G pitches about, which helps that, and the weather has been pretty good as well,” said the former Wales prop.
“Teams are starting to play a little bit more. I’m not sure if it’s a trend, but it’s certainly something that has come out in the first few games that teams are being a little bit more adventurous and want to play a bit more rugby.
“There’s lots of tries being scored and certainly the balance at this moment in time seems to have tipped towards the attack, whereas we had a couple of years where defence seemed to be on top in most games.
“In most matches I have watched over the last two to three weeks, defences are struggling to contain the attacks, which is good for the spectators. At the end of the day, we are in the entertainment business and people want to see tries scored.
“It gives the defence coaches a headache obviously, but certainly if you look right across the board, even in England, there are high scoring games.”
Offering his take, Dragons head coach Dai Flanagan said: “Firstly, the weather helps doesn’t it? Balls that get lost in rain and wind suddenly stick, which means you create more opportunities. So that’s definitely something that’s helped.
“I also think the intent for players is changing. When I first came through, the language would be ‘Just kick it, just kick it’. Now it’s not. With a 3 v 2, it doesn’t matter where it is, we are taking it.
"So the intent with the players has definitely changed and that’s probably through the coaching as well. A lot of coaches want people to express themselves, want to instill more belief and back decisions.
“I also think the refereeing is pretty good at the moment. They don’t blow the whistle if it doesn’t need to be blown. They want fast games. Players want fast games, spectators want fast games and I definitely think the refereeing around the place is allowing that, so long may that continue.”
Giving a player’s perspective, Cardiff centre Max Llewellyn - himself a try-scorer this season - also belives a change is afoot.
“I think there is a trend. From all the rugby I watch, I think there is a lot more emphasis on attack. You see it a lot in the English Premiership. They are scoring loads of tries every game. So I think there might be a little shift,” he said.
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