IRB eager to see impact of new laws

Changes to the laws of rugby union are to be trialled at their highest level to date when the Super 14 tournament, the southern hemisphere’s premier provincial club competition, gets underway this weekend.

IOL reports that several of the International Rugby Board’s Experimental Law Variations, which are designed to make the game easier for players and fans to follow and not leave matches at the mercy of a referee’s interpretation of the rules, will be on show during the Super 14.

The alterations adopted by tournament governing body SANZAR (South Africa, New Zealand and Australia Rugby) relate to the breakdown (tackle and post-tackle) area, the maul, lineout, sanctions, kicking from inside the 22 metre line and the act of scoring in relation to the corner posts.

“The 2008 Super 14 represents an exciting opportunity for many of the ELVs to be trialled at what will be the highest level of competition to date,” IRB chairman Bernard Lapasset said in a statement issued by the global governing body from its headquarters here Monday.

“The IRB is delighted that SANZAR has consented to this trial and we are looking forward to seeing some of the biggest names in the game playing under these Experimental Laws,” the Frenchman added.

“The primary aim of the ELVs is to make the game simpler to understand for players and supporters alike, and that the players dictate the outcome of matches not referee subjectivity,” Lapasset explained.

Some within the northern hemisphere fear the ELVs are an attempt to increase scoring opportunities at the expense of traditional forward play.

Australia, whose domestic game is struggling because of competition from Australian rules and rugby league, were overpowered at the scrum by England during their quarter-final defeat at last year’s World Cup.

Some European critics fear the ELVs, if they become permanent, will lead to ‘basketball’ rugby with high scores devaluing the worth of a try as the 15-man code is robbed of many of its distinctive features.

But Lapasset insisted Monday: “The basic fabric of the game has to remain the same in terms of maintaining its identifiable characteristics – the scrum, maul, ruck, lineout and tackle.

“Importantly, everything that is being trialled relates to the game’s playing charter that recognises rugby as being a game for all shapes and sizes and that the contest for possession is of paramount importance.”

The ELVs have already been trialled in whole or in part at lower levels of rugby union in South Africa, Scotland, Ireland, France, England, Australia and New Zealand.

Feedback will be assessed by the IRB Council, who are due to decide in November whether to incorporate any of the ELVs into the sport’s laws on a global trial basis for a further 12 months.

The successful ELVs would then be integrated fully into union’s rulebook at the end of this trial period through further IRB Council approval late in 2009.