Is international rugby becoming unwatchable?

Officiating is arguably as hot a topic as it ever has been - and not in a good way

Listen | 41:44
Ireland’s Caelan Doris and Siya Kolisi of South Africa watch as referee Matthew Carley consults the TMO. Photograph: Gary Carr/©INPHO
Ireland’s Caelan Doris and Siya Kolisi of South Africa watch as referee Matthew Carley consults the TMO. Photograph: Gary Carr/©INPHO

There have been postmortems aplenty on the state of Irish rugby after the November window. But what of the international window as a whole. Officiating is arguably a hot a topic as it ever has been - and not in a good way.

Stylistically, law tweaks have more and more teams striving for efficiency and playing in similar styles, ones which are not always popular among the crowds.

Whatever about results and Irish fortunes, as a spectacle, is international rugby still a good watch?

Host Nathan Johns is joined by Irish Times ruby writer John O’Sullivan.

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Produced by John Casey.

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