New laws are code for disunion as Habana goes on trial in court of Lote

[tdevil]

WALLABIES winger Lote Tuqiri has labelled as "short-sighted" remarks by Springboks flyer Bryan Habana that the new laws on trial in the Super 14 are making rugby union become more like rugby league.

Tuqiri, who played his first game under experimental law variations [ELVs] in NSW's 20-3 Super 14 round one win over the Hurricanes in Sydney last Saturday, believes union will prosper by being faster and less stop-start. He also applauds the way the game under the ELVs requires players to be better all-round athletes than before.

Tuqiri's comments come after Habana, the Bulls winger, criticised the laws for taking away the many breaks in the game, rather than welcoming them.

"I don't know what he is frustrated about. He [should] like the fast pace of it, the fact he is a speed merchant," said Tuqiri, who flies to New Zealand with the Waratahs tomorrow to play the Chiefs in Hamilton on Saturday.

Habana said yesterday that rugby union has "a lot more rugby league feel on it" under the news laws that are an International Rugby Board initiative. He is also worried that, with the new laws, there is "no stop-start" in the game. "If guys wanted to play rugby league, they'd go out and play rugby league," Habana said. "The essence of what rugby is about is something that I don't think any player or any supporter wants to see lost. There's something special about rugby �c your forwards pride themselves on the scrum and lineout and your backs pride themselves on that contest against the opposition. The backs are running against the forwards now and the forwards are running against the backs. So it's a little bit of a mix-up at the moment."

However, Tuqiri believes that a player of Habana's speed and ability with ball in hand should revel under the new laws. Tuqiri showed, against the Hurricanes, how it is possible, regularly making use of the opportunities the new laws create for finding gaps.

"It is a bit short-sighted," Tuqiri said of Habana's stance, believing that backs like he and Habana should "want to go up against a slower bloke to try and work him over in defence".

He added: "I guess with these new rules you can do that and they actually give you the chance to do that. You also have to be an athlete to play the [new] game. You have to be fitter. That will also be a positive."

Tuqiri, who played league with the Broncos before joining the Waratahs in 2003, also disagrees with Habana that playing rugby under news laws is like playing league again. "It has been a while since I played rugby league but I didn't think that," Tuqiri said.

Furthermore, Tuqiri believes players need to accept that after only one week's use in the Super 14 - the highest level of competition in which the new laws have been trialled - adapting to them will still take time.

"He is entitled to his opinion, [but] it is only the first week and there are going to be teething problems. The rules are an improvement on the game. They are a positive for the game," he said.

While some sides had difficulty understanding and putting the new laws into practice, Tuqiri believes NSW helped themselves by preparing well in the off-season. "We went over all the laws, put them on the white board, then went through the pros and cons on how to exploit some," he said.

"We got onto the park and practised. I don't think we got caught out as much as other teams."

But Tuqiri agrees with Habana that with the new laws yet to be approved for Tests, returning to the old ones will be hard. The Wallabies will have to do just that after the Super 14 for their home fixtures against Ireland and France.

Habana said: "I don't really understand because the southern hemisphere teams are playing with it in the Super 14, then come the June Tests we revert back to the old laws, then come the Tri Nations we revert back to the new laws again." Tuqiri said: "That is going to be pretty tough. You can't have one game to play and then another."

- The Waratahs, who trained yesterday without ill second-rower Dan Vickerman, will name a team for Saturday's game tomorrow.

[JediKnight]

Lote's secretly pleased that the semi-ELVs mean rugby becomes more like league as he sucked at rugby!!!!

[GIGS20]

I was thinking exactly the same thing Jedi....None of the statements in this little stoush surprise me yet. South African players will hate it, backs will (in general) like it....nothing new! Let's wait and see what happens once things settle down and teams actually stop mucking around

[eleypinkbit]

Why do they keep interviewing Lote? Surely they could find another player in the Waratahs to interview rather than keep going to him. Not like he's their stand out player (according to Fox Sports - that's Tah Man!)

[metalslugsman]

I was quite pleased to see Habana's comments as I had had similar thoughts. I'm not an ex-player but I have always enjoyed the complexity of rugby and the fact that many body-types/skill-sets can find a home in rugby. The explanation from the IRB that they want these changes to make the game easier to understand and easier to access for fans seems a little stupid. Surely if a dummy like me who played basketball and came from an AFL state can get to understand and love rugby then there is no need to make the game more like league

[shasta]

They interview Lote often because he's a "high profile" player in the east. No matter what we think of him here. Gotta admit that Saturdays effort was a few notches above what he delivered last year. I agree with him about the ELV's - give 'em a chance. They'll need to be an unqualified success if they are to have even a "snowball's chance" of being considered by the Home Unions.

[antiussentiment]

i managed to catch all of the games over the weekend. and i was amazed at how diffently teams decided to "use" them the 2 all south african affairs were like chalk and cheese.. the cheetas playing in a way that would have made a kiwi coach proud. but anyway, i jeneral liked they way they worked.

one big thing is that there will almost certainly be fewer penalty kicks at goal.. this is great!!! (well i think so).... 4 loosing teams scored bonus points. i'll be interested to see if the close scores trend continues..

[jazza93]

i liked the ELVs so far, the refs have not hessitated at all to give a free kick if they think there might be a foul in the ruck. Before the refs let alot of things go because they didnt want to cost a team 3 points if they wernt 99% sure.

The best rule is the 22 kicking one. when they kicked the ball and it had to stay in players like Ioane, Tuqiri, and Mitchell got a run at the backs with heaps of room and it was were great to watch.

i thought habana would use the the new rules to his advantage.

[zimeric]

Although i think Lote is a bum, he is far more qualified to make comparisons between League & Rugby than habana is.

There are however going to be polarised views on the ELV's untill they are adopted fully or thrown on the experimental rubbish heap. So lets just see how the season pans out, i mean its not like the changes are that dramatic so as to totally change the face of rugby, the big pack teams are still using their big packs to advantage and the smaller guys are taking advantage of the rule changes that suit their needs.

[AndyS]

Of course it'll take time for everyone to feel comfortable with the ELVs. Last year they were all bitching about "touch-pause" - has anyone heard it mentioned this year?

[JediKnight]

Of course it'll take time for everyone to feel comfortable with the ELVs. Last year they were all bitching about "touch-pause" - has anyone heard it mentioned this year?

Is it me or are there less scrum resets this year? Has it only taken 12 months for the front rows to understand the new process & work with it?!

[The Lone Hydrangea]

Habana is good but he has a ego. Ball in play more, opens up options of other players scoring, ie the engine room. Surprising blurb considering he is a class act and knows where the footy is.

[littleleck]

To be honest i have been unable to see the positives in the 22 kicking rule, all it has acheived so far is alot of aimless kicking back and forth, until finally someone gets one into the opposition 22, and then they put it into touch. I guess once everyone gets used to it this may change, but so far there has been little evidence, and having watched a great deal of ARC last year the results were similar.

[shasta]

Is it me or are there less scrum resets this year?

No, there's at least 2 of us. It's just an observation too - haven't seen any stats. But so far it seems to me that the referees in the matches i saw were letting the ball exit scrums that had become, lets say, "unstable" - where it was almost out anyway. In past seasons they had the maddening habit of continually resetting in that situation regardless.