Rugby's experimental law changes get thumbs up
Rugby's experimental law changes get thumbs up
Law changes improving game
Friday, March 30, 2007, from QRU.
Australian rugby’s first experiment with the IRB’s proposed law changes has received the thumbs up from coaches, players and spectators.
“The game is quicker, it’s really set up the game and it’s better to watch,” was the reaction of Souths coach Ian Cameron after the first four rounds of Trinity Queensland Premier Rugby (QPR) played using three of the experimental law variations (ELVs).
QPR was the first competition in Australia to sample some of the variations being trialled internationally and aimed at making the game easier to referee and better to play and watch.
The three ELVs being tested in Queensland and due to be played in Sydney’s Shute Shield are:
1. Downgrading most penalty offences to free-kicks
2. Backs must be 5 metres behind rear foot at scrum
3. Ball cannot be passed back into 22 and kicked out on the full
As well, touch judges have been handed the extra responsibility of alerting players and referees to breaches of the off-side law.
Cameron said the ELVs promoted a more expansive game, tailor-made for attacking rugby and making the game more enjoyable for spectators.
Cameron said his players are also enjoying the experimental laws and described them “as a positive move”.
With backs now forced to be five metres from the back of scrums, attacking backlines have been given the extra space to unleash their attacking potential.
Former Canada World Cup coach David Clark said while the changes were to be applauded, the application of the ELVs needed closer attention.
“Touch judges are alerting the referees to offside but in some cases they’re not being listened to and the referees are ignoring the advice,” said Clark, who coaches the Sunshine Coast Stingrays in QPR.
Queensland University coach Nick Stiles agreed that touch judges needed to improve communication with referees to enforce the offside law.
“I think it’s a very positive rule, but I haven’t seen one penalty (for offside) and I can guarantee you’ve they’ve (players) been within the five,” said the former Wallaby and Reds prop.
The downgrading of most penalty offences to free-kicks is aimed at making the game faster and Norths co-coach Bill Gordon-Thompson said it had worked to keep the ball in play more.
It also forced teams to rethink and adjust their structure.
“You normally get a penalty and either kick for the line or for goal, where now you’ve got to decide whether you are going to pack a scrum or tap and go,” Gordon-Thompson said.
On the downside David Clark said some teams had initially exploited the quick tap, resulting in cynical play that wasn’t in the spirit of the game.
“With a free-kick from an infringement at the lineout, players from the attacking team are automatically playing on straight away and running into an opponent (to milk a penalty).
“The referees could stop this by walking slowly to the mark to award the free-kick, giving the defending team time to retreat,” Clark said.
University coach Stiles said the referees also took a little time to get used to the different penalty rulings.
“What we found early on with the referees was they were …not using a (full arm) penalty enough; teams were infringing and giving away a lot of short arms because it wasn’t that much of a deterrent. It was nearly becoming a game of touch.”
Attacking rugby has definitely been a feature of the opening rounds of QPR.
Competition leaders GPS have played four games for four wins, scoring 179 points at an average of just under 45 points a game, while twice amassing over 60 points.
GPS has recorded a four-try bonus point in all of its matches so far this season, Gold Coast has three, Wests two while every other team except University has a four try bonus point to their name.
Souths coach Cameron gives some of the credit to the ELVs.
“If you’ve got a good backline, if you look at Brothers, Wests and GPS who have exceptional back threes with tremendous pace, that’s why they’re scoring so many tries,” Cameron said.
The ELVs were initially trialled at Stellenbosch University in South Africa after being developed by the IRB Laws Project Group, which included former World Cup winning Wallaby coach Rod Macqueen, former Springbok coach Ian McIntosh, former Scotland coach Richie Dixon, former French player, coach and current IRB Regional Development Manager Pierre Villepreux, IRB Referee Manager Paddy O'Brien and IRB Development Manager Bruce Cook.
Other ELVs being trialled in Scotland include allowing the use of the hands at the tackle/ruck and allowing the maul to be pulled down.
If approved, the new laws may be introduced to all rugby after this year’s Rugby World Cup.
New rules great, but not super
New rules great, but not super
By Jon Geddes
April 05, 2007
NEW laws being trialled in Sydney's club competition may prove to be the saviour of Australian rugby - but they won't be introduced for the 2008 Super 14, no matter how successful they are.
The International Rugby Board won't bring any changes into force internationally before June 1 next year.
That will lead to the absurd situation where the status quo remains for the Super 14 but, the Australia players will then have to adapt to a new set of laws in the Test campaign.
The Stellenbosch Laws being used in the Tooheys New Shute Shield, which kicks off on Saturday, are designed to breath new life into the code; they include all players except the halfback having to stand five metres from the base of the scrum to open the game up.
"The IRB is getting all the information back from around the world because they are trialling different laws to see what effect they have on the game," Australian Rugby Union national referees manager Peter Marshall said.
"They will take all the info, get the data, get feedback from coaches and referees to see what is working and what is not working."
Teams could request the new laws be trialled again in the 2008 Super 14, but with no guarantees which laws would be introduced for the Test series.
"Something has to happen with the game to make it more of a spectacle," former Wallabies player Brett Papworth said.
"Even died-in-the-wool hard-nosed rugby tragics are getting a bit bored and sick of rugby at the moment.
"We get belted up every week by the NRL and AFL. We are the poor relations here.
"If you change the laws to open it up and remove the referees' technical interpretations, that has to be good."
Eastwood and Australia Under-21 coach Chris Hickey, one of rugby's most astute people, said the game had to be invigorated and simplified - and these experimental laws provided a starting point.
"It's important here in Australia because we are competing with sports like soccer, rugby league and the AFL, which are a lot of action but they are also simple games to understand as a spectator," he said.
"So that even if you have never seen league before, you can sit down and watch it and have an idea of what is going on.
"Whereas in rugby, you can play it for 10 years and still not have a clue."
Houston has a problem with laws
Houston has a problem with laws
Jamie Pandaram
Saturday, April 7, 2007
SHUTE SHIELD
THE first steps toward cleaning up the mess of laws in rugby will be taken today when the Shute Shield kicks off under new regulations designed to make the game faster and referees less whistle-happy.
But one of the competition's highest-profile players is lamenting the abolition of good old-fashioned rucking - on behalf of all cauli-eared forwards.
Randwick skipper Chris Houston, who led the Galloping Greens to the grand final last year, has accused rugby's law-makers of going yellow. "They want to take [rucking] out of the game," Houston said. "The referees tell us we're not allowed to ruck in games anymore [under the 2007 IRB laws, players are not allowed to ruck opponents who are lying on the ground].
"I can't remember anyone being seriously injured by rucking. (HARUMPF HARUMPF!!! Bloody pansies, can't beat a good ruckin in the mornin!!!) By taking it away, it allows players to slow the ball down, and you can't use your feet to encourage them to move away.
"What is going to be next, no tackles above the waist? They are trying to sanitise the game too much. We're men, they should let us play like men, that's why we play rugby."
You'd never know that Houston works in an industry where broken fingernails result in hysterics and emergency treatment. Surrounded by fabrics, patterns and clothing designs in a Surry Hills fashion house, Houston cuts a strikingly different figure than that of a fearsome rugby captain.
But the Scottish-born back-rower - who doubles as the general manager of clothing distribution company Live Fashion Agency - welcomes the "balance" between work and rough play.
"I can be talking about colours and fabrics and about how things fit, and then a couple of hours later I'll be in a scrum session," the 30-year-old said.
Houston's troops kick off their campaign against Norths at Coogee Oval this afternoon, and plan to go one better after a heartbreaking grand final loss to Sydney University last season. While it will be tough, fashionista Houston reckons it will be easier than convincing his teammates to wear straight-legged jeans.
In rugby terms, the Sydney club competition will be a trend-setter this year as one of just two tournaments in the world (apart from all the others including Brisbane above... Perhaps he meant these particular laws?) - the other is the Scottish Super Cup club comp - trialling some of the Stellenbosch Laws which may be enforced worldwide following this year's World Cup, if the rules achieve the desired effect.
Under the Stellenbosch Laws:
* Any player other than the halfback or those involved in a scrum must stand five metres back from the base of the scrum.
* The ball can no longer be kicked out on the full from inside the 22 if it is passed from outside the 22, otherwise it will result in a lineout in line with where the ball was kicked from. But if the ball is kicked out on the full from inside the 22 following a tackle, ruck or maul, the current law stands and a lineout will be taken from where the ball went out.
* There will be no maximum limit of players in a lineout, so in theory a side could have 14 men contesting the throw. There must be a minimum of two players in the lineout. The opposition is free to have as many or as few players in a lineout as they wish.
* A free kick, rather than a penalty, will be awarded for all offences other than offside, not entering though the gate, and foul play. The free kick can be taken as a quick tap or scrum, so the ball will be in play for longer.
The theory behind the new laws is sound. But Houston expects it will take some time before the players kick old habits. "In the trials, the referees called the new rules - but half of the time, it seemed like even they didn't know what they were doing," Houston said. "I think [the rules] will make the game faster, but it will take a while."
