The ELV's were designed in Stellenbosch by a panel appointed by the IRB and led by Rod MacQueen. Perversely, the reason for their design was to simplify the game of Rugby. While this simplification may eventually lead to less confusion around the contest for possession, it's the manner and timing of their implementation that has led to this current state of insanity.
I've spent half the afternoon when I should have been working putting together this handy table of which ELV's apply and when. Perhaps the teams, players and referees can print it out and refer to it at the bottom of mauls and when passing the ball back into their 22.
My biggest beef with the implementation of these new laws is, as with all things IRB, politics. The laws were trialled in the 2007 ARC and the players, referees, coaches, media and IRB observers all agreed they were mostly good, however there was contention over the ability to pull down mauls.
As such, the Super 14 adopted the new laws minus the pulling down of mauls. All rejoiced at the greater understanding at the breakdown, the extra minutes of ball in play, the increased turnovers in the constant battle for possession. We were happy that the fundamentals of the game hadn't changed - it was still a game for all body types, dominant scrums still dominated, and Richie McCaw was still a cheat.
Now we find ourselves having blooded the ELV's at ARC, Currie Cup, NPC and Super 14 levels. It's been an overwhelming success. Alas, bar the Scots, the Northern Hemisphere have shown little to no interest. The Poms (especially Jeremy Clarkson[/URL]) seem to believe the whole ELV 'scandal' is one perpetrated by Australians in order to make their scrum competitive. Fair point, our scrum has been woeful in recent memory, but perhaps one could watch a game of the Super 14 before passing judgment.
After a great Super 14 season we now find ourselves at the June Internationals with the Northerns coming south in search of Winter. To appease them we're going to revert to the old laws. Yep, for 6 weeks only the all you can eat 3 point penalties are back on the menu. If we're lucky England and South Africa can replay the RWC final.
So, what to do for the Tri Nations then? SANZAR have pulled a rabbit out of the hat here by seamlessly sliding back to ELV's, but for good measure pulling out a further two ELV's. Until this point SANZAR had making the best of the situation, but why the f'uck would they introduce 2 extra ELV's and not the final 3 ELV's?
Now we'll go from 8 to 0 to 10 to 13 ELV's.
Here's an example of the clarity that the ELV's have given us. The 1st rule determined that Touch Judges should be referred to as Assistant Referees for the Super 14. Then period between 1st May and 17th July they'll revert to Touch Judges for the June International Tests, before switching back to Assistant Referees within SANZAR while retaining the Touch Judge title elsewhere for the Tri-Nations period. From the 1st August they'll be Assistant Referees everywhere. Glad we cleared that up.
If you're interested in what these new laws actually are, here's the list of
2008 Super 14 ELV's and heres the Final ELV List from August 1st 08
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