Rugby Union accepts rule changes

April 30, 2009 - 2:28PM

The International Rugby Board's rugby committee has endorsed proposals for the permanent incorporation of 10 out of 13 of the Experimental Law Variations into the sport's rule-book.

Wednesday's announcement by the global governing body came as little surprise following a two-day conference in London last month where some 60 of the sport's leading figures examined the impact of the trial rules.

ELVs which got the green light from the rugby committee, after winning support at the conference, included the pass-back rule, which prevents teams making ground with a kick directly into touch from the 22 if the ball has first been played back by their own side into that zone and the five-metre offside line at a scrum.
But in what was seen as a victory for the northern hemisphere and English rugby union in particular, the conference advised the ELV allowing a maul to be pulled down not become a permanent feature of the game, a view endorsed by the rugby committee which met in Dublin earlier this week.
The committee also backed the conference's conclusion that the sanctions experiment, currently being trialled in the southern hemisphere, which sees most offences punished with a free-kick rather than a penalty, be subjected to further review.

That effectively kicked the issue into touch until after the 2011 World Cup.
But the final decision on which, if any, of the ELVs, become part of a revised set of rules will be taken at a full IRB Council meeting on May 13.

However, it is unlikely they will go against the rugby committee's advice.
Many within English rugby union have long been dubious about the whole ELV project, seeing an Australia-inspired plot to compensate for what were the Wallabies' forward weaknesses by trying to turn rugby union into "basketball".

There was also a view in Europe, where crowds for major club matches and Tests have held up well, that the rules did not need a rewrite simply because the Australian game was competing for fans with Australian Rules football and rugby league.


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Red card for rugby's free-kick fest
Marc Hinton, www.stuff.co.nz | April 30, 2009 - 2:00PM

Rugby's free-kick fest has been kicked into touch by the IRB as the controversial Experimental Law Variations received their final dusting over before the all-important decision day on May 13.

The IRB's rugby committee, the very group which rubber-stamped the ELVs in the first place, today unveiled its recommendations to go before the council meeting on May 13. It is then that the proposed changes will either be drafted into law or dumped altogether.

Thank goodness. It will be a red-letter day for rugby, with a welcome end to the shambles of the past two years where laws have chopped and changed from competition to competition and region to region, depending on the whim of the national bodies and the desires of the IRB.

In total, 10 of the 13 ELVs that comprise the current global trial have been recommended for adoption into law. It's thought the IRB council would not go against its own committee's recommendations, though funnier things have happened round the boardroom table.

But, really, it's all about the ELVs that haven't passed muster, for it's the rules that have caused the most consternation that have been flipped into the trash can.

Top of that list is the red-hot sanctions experiment that sees free-kicks rather than penalties awarded for most offences around the tackle and breakdown area.

It's the one area of the ELVs that has caused the most widespread debate, with the northern hemisphere superpowers essentially disregarding the sanctions change without even going through the motions of trialling it.

The northern nations love their penalties, and there was no way they were going to tolerate a law change that went a long way to removing them from the game. And they regarded with the deepest of suspicion any attempts to speed the game up which they saw as a southern hemisphere plot to take away their traditional strengths.

To be fair, the sanctions experiment was not exactly a wild success, with teams tending to resort to a lot of kicking anyway because of a reluctance to be caught in possession in their own 22.

The IRB has not ruled the sanctions experiment out altogether, calling for "further consultation" post-2011 despite deciding not to put it forward as a law change. But in essence the free-kick fest is dead and buried, not likely to see the light of day.

The other proposals that have been met with the executioner's axe, with the IRB rugby committee closely following the conclusions of a major conference in London recently, are those involving allowing the maul to be pulled down and freedom for either side to determine lineout numbers.

The laws that appear set for the green light are the less contentious ones, though areas such as the 5m offside line at scrums, not allowing the ball to be kicked dead after being passed back into the 22 and allowing quick lineouts to be thrown backwards have all been deemed successes.

There has also been a "union-specific" recommendation that allows for a 15-minute halftime break.

The rugby committee's evaluation is the latest step in the global ELV consultation and evaluation process which began with the conference of the game in 2004.

To be honest, it can't come to an end quickly enough for most rugby observers.

Recommendations for the IRB Council.-

Law 6 Assistant referees able to assist referees in any way the referee requires.

Law 19 If a team puts the ball back in their own 22 and the ball is subsequently kicked directly into touch there is no gain in ground.

Law 19 A quick throw may be thrown in straight or towards the throwing team's goal-line.

Law 19 The receiver at the lineout must be two metres back away from the lineout.

Law 19 The player who is in opposition to the player throwing in the ball must stand in the area between the five metre line and touch line and must be two metres from the line of touch and at least two metres from the lineout.

Law 19 Lineout players may pre-grip a jumper before the ball is thrown in.

Law 19 The lifting of lineout jumpers is permitted.

Law 20 Introduction of an offside line five metres behind the hindmost feet of the scrum.

Law 20 Scrum half offside line at the scrum.

Law 20 The corner posts are no longer considered to be touch in goal except when the ball is grounded against the post

Union-specific ELVs recommended to Council:

Unions may implement rolling substitutions at defined levels of the game;

A union having a jurisdiction over a game may implement a halftime interval of not more than 15 minutes;

A union may implement the under-19 Scrum Law Variation at a defined level of the game under its jurisdiction.

The following is not recommended to the IRB Council for adoption into law:

Law 17 - Maul - Head and Shoulders not to be lower than hips.

Law 17 - Maul - Pulling Down the Maul.

Law 19 Freedom for each team to determine Lineout Numbers

The sanctions and tackle/ruck ELVs will not be recommended to the IRB Council for adoption into Law. However, the Rugby Committee has deferred these areas for further consultation.

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