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SANZAR has underlined its commitment to the Experimental Law Variations (ELVs) process by agreeing on special Tri-Nations ELVs to showcase the best of rugby’s new laws.
The competition will be played under the laws that applied in the Super 14 competition, with the addition of two of the ELVs that will be going into global use when the new laws are trialled worldwide from August 1. These two new laws for the Tri-Nations will permit the pulling down of the maul and remove the requirement that teams match numbers at the line out.
“We believe the laws we will play in the nine matches of the Tri-Nations will provide a rigorous examination of the most fundamental of the ELVs, said Jonathan Stones, CEO of SANZAR.
”We discussed a range of laws options from playing under the old laws, (as they will apply in our June tour programmes) to the “new” ELVs that will apply worldwide from August 1.
“We could not immediately agree on which set to apply as all of them had their merits within the complex laws’ schedule that has been a product of the ELV process in the southern hemisphere. However the solution we agreed on allows our players to approach the competition with the confidence of having played a full Super 14 season under these laws while adding in two that are straightforward, clear-cut and leave no room for the nuances of interpretation.”
New Zealand hosts South Africa in Wellington on July 5 in the opening Tri-Nations fixture of the season.