Mauls saved at IRB conference

[travelling_gerry]

Tuesday 31st March 2009

ELVs: Pulling down of mauls to be thrown out?





The maul's place at the heart of rugby union is set to be preserved following a meeting of nearly 60 senior rugby stakeholders.

The International Rugby Board conference - which featured coaches, referees, administrators and representatives from all the major unions - was called to discuss the global impact of ELVs currently being trialled.

After two days of detailed review, including statistics from over 800 matches in fifteen different countries, a total of ten ELVs were recommended to be passed into full law.

But the two most controversial ELVs were not ratified.

The conference recommended the law allowing mauls to be pulled down should be thrown out.

And the sanctions ELV which sees most offences penalised with a free-kick, currently being trialled in the southern hemisphere, has been sent away for further review.

The committee also rejected the ELV allowing teams to select as many players as they want in the lineout.

Recommended ELVs include a five-metre off-side line at the scrum and the pass-back rule, which prevents players from making any ground with a kick to touch if the ball has been played back into their own 22.

The conference was not a decision-making forum but was designed to help the IRB's rugby committee finalise their own list of ELV recommendations to put before the full IRB council on May 13.

ELVs recommended for adoption into law:
Law 6 - Assistant referees allowed.
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 ELVs recommended:
Up to fifteen minutes' half-time.
Rolling substitutions for community game.
Use of U19 variations at the scrum for community adult game where agreed by the union.

Union-specific ELVs not recommended:
Protocol to extend the remit of the television match official.

http://www.planetrugby.com/Story/0,1...125986,00.html

[travelling_gerry]

ELV Conference attendees:

Bernard Lapasset (IRB Chairman), Bill Beaumont (IRB Vice Chairman and Laws Project Group), Mike Miller (IRB Chief Executive), Oregan Hoskins (IRB Executive Committee), Giancarlo Dondi (IRB Executive Committee), Peter Boyle (IRB Executive Committee), David Pickering (IRB Executive Committee), Jean Pierre Lux (IRB Rugby Committee), Geraint John (IRB Rugby Committee), Francis Baron (RFU), Rob Andrew (RFU), Kevin Bowring (RFU), Chris Cuthbertson (RFU), Roger Lewis (WRU), Joe Lydon (WRU), Bob Yeman (WRU), Phillip Browne (IRFU), Eddie Wigglesworth (IRFU), Owen Doyle (IRFU), Roy McCombe (SRU), Frank Hadden (SRU), Colin Thomson (SRU), Andre Watson (SARU), Johan Prinsloo (SARU), Peter de Villiers (SARU), David Nucifora (ARU), John O'Neill (ARU), Robbie Deans (ARU), Santiago Phelan (UAR), Ricardo Garcia Fernandez (UAR), Marcelo Toscano (UAR), Steve Tew (NZRU), Neil Sorensen (NZRU), Steve Hansen (NZRU), Nick Mallett (FIR), Francesco Ascione (FIR), Carlo Casagrande (FIR), Rene Hourquet (FFR), Jean Louis Barthes (FFR), Didier Retiere (FFR), Bill Nolan (Laws Project Group Chairman), Dr Syd Millar (Laws Project Group), Bruce Cook (Laws Project Group/IRB Development Manager), Ian McIntosh (Laws Project Group), Dr Mick Molloy (Laws Project Group/IRB Medical Officer), Graham Mourie (Chairman of IRB Rugby Committee & Laws Project Group), Paddy O'Brien (Laws Project Group/IRB Referee Manager), Pierre Villepreux (Laws Project Group), Richie Dixon (Laws Project Group), Rod Macqueen (Laws Project Group), Steve Griffiths (IRB Head of Technical Services), Corris Thomas (IRB Game Analysis), John Feehan (6 Nations), Derek McGrath (ERC Rugby), Ian McGeechan (British & Irish Lions), Lyndon Bray (NZRU Referee Manager), Nigel Owens (IRB Referee), Rob Nichol (IRPA), Damian Hopley (IRPA).

*At the conclusion of the conference the FFR tabled its proposal to deal with the issue of uncontested scrums. This will be further discussed by the Rugby Committee and Unions will be able to give further feedback before the May 13 Council meeting.

[Burgs]

Be a fair old piss-up with that lot!

I can live with that, I hope they keep the Short Arm variation though.

[Sheikh]

Glad they're keeping the maul.

Now they need to stop the aerial ping-pong by sorting out recycling of ball in the ruck. I'd start by telling refs to err on the attacking side in rucks. Watching the forwards grind out 10 phases of ruck & maul to generate an overlap/mismatch is my kind of rugby.

[GIGS20]

The way it's currently being played, I don't think it'll matter that much......Actually I think it'll have opened the eyes of some teams to the possibility of doing it for full-arms. I've seen a couple of full arms getting tapped in the S14.....agreed it might be that the player didn't realise it wasn't a short arm, but some of those big midfield breaks would be worth FAR more than a simple lineout throw!

I no longer care about the sanctions, if it's a deal breaker, relinquish it, I'd much rather have one canon of law governing all rugby than the current mish-mash.

[AndyS]

So basically, all that and they have achieved no real change to the game. Still, at least there will be no more of the hundreds of injuries that have resulted from collapsing the mauls this year - thank God someone thought of the children! And not a single change to the breakdown either, when it was that complexity that initially started the whole ELV process. Weak.

I'd start by telling refs to err on the attacking side in rucks.

Perhaps, but I did find this interesting (NH article too!): http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/r...s-1655596.html
Tends to confirm what had become my feeling, which was that the game was approaching almost uncontested breakdowns (just like that other game). I guess now that they've managed to get that reinstated, they'll go back to trying to get the scrum depowered due to safety concerns.

Frankly, the process has been crap. Not happy about all the free kick at the breakdown? Allow retention of possession if kicked into touch and indirect dropkicks at goal (effectively, half a full-arm penalty). Too much kicking in general play? Allow any caught ball to be kicked into touch with retention of possession, so long as there has been no contact with another player (won't affect grubbers or kicks into open space, but would pretty much kill all aimless kicking and uncontested up-and-unders).

But instead, no optimisation or fine tuning, the ELVs are in or out and inevitably most are out. C'est la vie, back to the future, lucky playing tactics and player speed/fitness aren't progressing either...

[pruc]

get rid of the short arm in u19 variation. it ineffect does the opposite to what it wishes to achieve. With a slower game developing and lower skill execution.

[TOCC]

im happy with that

[pruc]

Still, at least there will be no more of the hundreds of injuries that have resulted from collapsing the mauls this year - thank God someone thought of the children! And not a single change to the breakdown either, when it was that complexity that initially started the whole ELV process. Weak.

they tryed to fix the breakdown but it made it more scrappy, [with your allowed hands on the ball if your on your feet - trialed in the ARC] so went back to the old way.

u19 law variations stated that the pulling down of the maul resulted in a penalty. with only senior rugby playing this rule.

But instead, no optimisation or fine tuning, the ELVs are in or out and inevitably most are out. C'est la vie, back to the future, lucky playing tactics and player speed/fitness aren't progressing either...

your joking i hope. The average player fitness level and speed has increased dramatically since the ELVs came into practise...

[TommyM]

I think I read all AndyS's comments as SLIGHTLY tongue in cheek... ;-)

[AndyS]

they tryed to fix the breakdown but it made it more scrappy,...

Yes, but it is not just that one - the sanctions affect behaviour at the breakdown, as do a whole bunch of things. What don't are most of the things thay are planning to implement, which are focused around the set piece.

The average player fitness level and speed has increased dramatically since the ELVs came into practise...

And so how much more so since they first implemented the laws they are planning to revert to?

I think I read all AndyS's comments as SLIGHTLY tongue in cheek... ;-)

Sweet of you to say

[Stone Cold]

The only rule change I want is to make kicking drop goals worth only one point...

[JediKnight]

The only rule change I want is to make kicking drop goals worth only one point...

That'll just bring Rugby another step closer to Mungo-ball.