Former Ireland full-back Rob Kearney has told the BBC’s Ireland Rugby Social podcast that he expects “big changes” in rugby union guidelines over the “next three to six months” to improve the game as a spectacle.
Talking to BBC Sport NI’s Gavin Andrews and former Ireland team-mate Conor Murray, Kearney said he believes too many stoppages in the game, caused primarily by television match official (TMO) reviews designed to aid refereeing decisions, are having an adverse effect.
The former Leinster back, now 39, was appointed to the executive board of World Rugby in 2024.
“Stoppages, TMOs, referees, it’s hurting the game badly,” said Kearney of the biggest short-term challenge facing the game.
“Big changes I think will happen in the next three to six months – certainly remit number one from a World Rugby perspective is to improve and make changes because the product on the field at the moment is not good enough, it’s not what it needs to be,” said Kearney.
“With so many other sports you’re under pressure to win fans and eyeballs.”
Kearney, who won 95 caps before being left out of the Ireland squad after the 2019 World Cup quarter-final defeat by New Zealand in Japan, added that, on the physical side of the game, the safety element around concussion is also “a big threat”.
“A lot of work has been done, not to eradicate it because it has always been there, rugby is a physical sport and there are always going to be head knocks.
“We have to appreciate that it’s part and parcel of the game and just get on with it, and hope the authorities are doing the best that they can to stay up with science and medicine and return-to-play protocols.
“I think tackle height may change in time. That would be one side of it, while the financial costs of the game are not good.
“There’s a lot more money going out of the game than there is coming into the game so it’s harder for clubs, unions, even World Rugby now to maximise revenues.”
