Kiwis whingeing again

[Flamethrower]

Advantage Aussies with new S14 laws
By RUPERT GUINNESS - SMH | Wednesday, 05 December 2007
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4312976a10295.html


Australian Super 14 teams are set to benefit from the raft of new laws to be introduced for next year's series to improve the game.

That is because it is in Australia where they have been most extensively trialled – in the Sydney Toohey's New Cup and Brisbane Premier Rugby competitions and then the Australian Rugby Championship.

However, from those Experimental Law Variations (ELVs) trialled at the ARC, three will not make it into the Super 14, SANZAR, the competition's ruling body, announced yesterday. They are the controversial hands-in-the-ruck law, the pulling down of the maul, and unlimited numbers in the lineout. It is possible they may be introduced at a later date.

The new Super 14 laws approved Tuesday, which are expected to see the ball in play for up to five minutes longer, will also be used in next year's Tri Nations. And while incoming tours will see the Wallabies revert back to the former laws – making them play under two sets of laws in one season – it is envisaged that the International Rugby Board will approve the new ones across the board in time for 2009.

NSW Waratahs coach Ewen McKenzie revealed that he has recruited his squad and trained it on the basis that the ELVs that would be approved, despite fears that the proposal might be still blocked.

Now, with South Africa and New Zealand supporting them, NSW, the Queensland Reds, Brumbies and Western Force have a chance to make use of their experience and get a jump on their rivals.

With Australian rugby in dire straits after poor results in last year's Super 14 and World Cup, and a drop in crowds, gate takings, and television ratings, quick on-field success next season would be the ideal medicine. The introduction of the ELVS into Super 14 will further help revive the 15-man code, as they have been designed to make the game more entertaining, faster, and simpler for players, referees and spectators.

"We have the benefit here in Australia of having seen it whereas others don't," McKenzie said. "I have been banking on the fact they will be in. We have been conditioning on the basis the game will be more free-flowing.

"We have certainly recruited on [that] basis. So the people we have got should sit in well with the way the game is going."

Western Force coach John Mitchell has also prepared his squad expecting the ELVs to be approved.

"We have been expecting them. But there is really not a lot of change, to be fair," he said. "It will just require better decision-making by players, probably quicker transitions between attack and defence.

"With the game in its previous form, there has been a lot of down time between when the ball is kicked out and the scrum and lineout."

However, Robbie Deans, the coach of six-time Super champions Crusaders, believes the four Australian sides should still benefit from their experience of the ELVs.

"There will be an advantage for those that have experienced them. And they will have access to coaches who have worked with them," Deans said. "[But] in terms of understanding and initiatives there will be, hopefully, a temporary advantage."

Deans admitted he had not yet considered how – or if – the new laws might change the Crusaders' game.

"We have only just gathered [information]. We will now go back and look at some of the ARC footage and determine if it will make a significant adjustment to the way we play the game," he said. "I expect we won't. But that is the same with every campaign. It is a moving target and the game keeps evolving. Teams take initiatives that you have to keep up with."

McKenzie warned that any advantage to the Australian sides could be minimal. "There is a lot of pooled information there. I don't think anyone will be holding anything back," he said.

The ELVs are not just aimed at boosting the code in Australia but around the world, said Matt Carroll, the Australian Rugby Union's deputy chief executive.

"We are in a very competitive market. We know how strong football is around the world," he said. "We know how strong Australian rules and league are in Australia. Even in New Zealand they know how strong rugby league is."

THE CHANGES

What SANZAR approved:

– Lineout at point of kick if ball is passed or taken inside the 22m and then kicked out on the full

– Offside line at tackle is across the field

– Ruck and maul entry to be "at the gate" (from the hindmost foot)

– Free-kicks for all offences except offside, not entering via gate and foul play

– Corner posts placed outside junction of goal and touch line

-5m offside line at scrum base

[Burgs]

Maybe they should have thought of that prior to this years New Zealand Cup.

[Seldom]

Maybe they should have thought of that prior to this years New Zealand Cup.

I agree

[The InnFORCEr]

With Australian rugby in dire straits after poor results in last year's Super 14 and World Cup, and a drop in crowds, gate takings, and television ratings, quick on-field success next season would be the ideal medicine.

[brokendown gunfighter]

couldn't see much whingeing in that article IMO

[AndyS]

And I thought Rupert Guinness is an Aussie?

[jono]

– Corner posts placed outside junction of goal and touch line

so this means that the flags are going to be outside the field? and not at the very limit of it?

[zimeric]

for some reason i thought the Kiwis were the first to introduce the ELV's (in the NPC)
it appears i was wrong.

[frontrow]

I too asumed that zimeric, and speaking to a few kiwis up here, they also thought the same thing...although i think it was second division, not apc...