Australia’s Super 14 coaches have predicted a dire return to dour, forward-oriented penalty-goal shootouts after being disappointed by a deferral of key law change.
A two-day International Rugby Board conference in London ended with 70 leading figures of the game recommending a host of minor law alterations but rejecting changes to the maul and, most noticeably, sending the controversial sanctions experiment away for further review.
While English officials were buoyant leading a successful European challenge to the experimental law variations (ELVs), local coaches are cynical of the decision to defer the “heart of the ELVs.”
The experimental sanctions see most ruck infringements penalised with short-arm free-kicks rather than long-arm penalties, cutting down penalty goal kicks, and indications are they won’t be revisited until after the 2011 World Cup.
Queensland coach Phil Mooney, NSW mentor Chris Hickey and Western Force’s John Mitchell are all in favour of the sanctions being retained to ensure a faster game where the ball stays in play longer.
Waratahs coach Hickey was the most incensed by the outcomes which will guide the IRB’s rugby committee ahead of their April 27 meeting, a fore-runner to a meeting of the full IRB Council on May 13. The IRB will then announce its final decision on July 1.
“The fact they have deferred the sanctions is not a good sign,” Hickey said.
“If they were happy with it they would have recommended them. “The reality is they’re the real heart of the ELVs “The ones they have ticked off are really good for the game but they’re only peripheral, they’re on the fringes.”
While Mooney was happy to see experimental law allowing the maul to be pulled down rejected, Hickey bemoaned the recommendation which showed the Northern Hemisphere was getting “their way” in keeping laws which suited their forward-focused game.
“If they go back to the penalty kicks you’ll see a game that’s completely dominated by 30-40 lineouts and driving mauls,” said the NSW coach.
“When you see games played under ELVs and then Test matches under the old laws you see very different games of footy.
“I don’t necessarily thing that’s a good direction for the game to move in and then you’ll find teams winning games by kicking penalty goals and not playing much footy.”
Wallabies coach Robbie Deans, ARU boss John O’Neill and high-performance manager David Nucifora were among the 70 delegates in the London conference which sided with the ELVs such as five metre defensive lines from scrums and restricting the kicking out on the full inside the 22.
While the northern hemisphere have opposed the sanctions on the grounds they are a “cheats charter” for endless ruck infringements, Mooney believed refereeing interpretations may have been to blame for why they haven’t caught on in Europe.
“I personally think that the sanctions are good, it’s just how the referees use them,” he said.
“It comes a point if people are continually giving away cynical penalties they have to act harder and if they do that the laws are good.”
Mitchell, an advocate of free-kicks at the breakdown, was also concerned teams would become overly defensive and conservative in attack with a return to the traditional penalties.
“I think the half-arm is a great concept and it’s totally necessary for us in Australian rugby in the sporting market that we live in,” he said.
“It creates an element in the game where it asks the defence to respond quickly or negatively, and I guess that’s what the game’s all about.”
An International Rugby Board (IRB) conference has recommended that 10 of the Experimental Law Variations (ELVs) currently being trialed should be permanently incorporated into the sport’s rulebook.
Below is a list of those ELVs that have been given the green light and those which have been rejected ahead of the IRB’s rugby committee presenting its final proposals to the global governing body’s ruling council on May 13:ELVs recommended for adoption into law
Law 6 – assistant referees allowed (re-naming of touch judges).
Law 19 – Kicking directly into touch from ball played back into 22 equals no gain in ground.
Law 19 – Quick (lineout) throw permitted in any direction except forward.
Law 19 – Positioning of player in opposition to the player throwing in to be two metres away from lineout and the line of touch.
Law 19 – Pre-gripping of lineout jumpers allowed.
Law 19 – Lifting in the lineout allowed.
Law 19 – Positioning of receiver must be two metres away from lineout.
Law 20 – Five-metre offside line at the scrum.
Law 20 – Scrum-half offside line at the scrum.
Law 22 – Corner posts no longer touch in goal.ELVs not recommended for adoption into law:
Law 17 – Maul – Head and shoulders not to be lower than hips.
Law 17 – Maul – Pulling down the maul.
Law 19 – Freedom for each team to determine lineout numbers.Sanctions and Free-kicks (subsidiary recommendation for further examination).
Tackle/ruck infringements (subsidiary recommendation for ruling in law to be sought by a union to clarify interpretation of current law).Union specific (rules which can be adopted by one country) ELVs recommended:
Up to 15 minutes’ half-time.
Rolling substitutions for community game.
Use of Under-19 variations at the scrum for community adult game where agreed by the union.Union specfic ELV not recommended:
Protocol to extend the remit of the television match official.
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