All is changed - but not utterly, or clearly

RUGBY EXPERIMENTAL LAW VARIATIONS:A DEGREE of confusion is likely to reign as the 2008-09 competitive season kicks off with the Magners League this evening, and for that the International Rugby Board (IRB) are largely to blame. Effectively, this is the fourth set of laws under which the game will operate in a matter of months.

The source of it all are the Experimental Law Variations (ELVs), all 29 of which came into being at the outset of the year in the Southern Hemisphere and are continuing with the Tri-Nations. Devised by a "Laws Project Group", featuring many illustrious names who have long been away from the coalface of the game, they have been driven strongly by the Australians and their vocal chief executive, John O'Neill, as a panacea to the perceived ills of the World Cup in a bid to boost the game's flagging popularity there.

The IRB sought to introduce a global trial from August 1st, but resistance to the more extreme and excessive of the ELVs, primarily from the English, Irish and Welsh unions, ensured that only 13 of them come into being in the Northern Hemisphere.

Meantime, the summer Tests having reverted to the existing laws, South Africa's Currie Cup is undergoing a further variation at the moment which has placed far greater emphasis on the role of Television Match Officials than is in the IRB protocol.

(This, by the by, added up to 30 minutes to one particular game.)

The first point to stress, therefore, is that only some, but by no means all, of what we've been watching in the Tri-Nations will be reprised now. The main difference is that the reduction of most penalty offences to indirect free kicks for pretty much everything bar offside and foul play have not come into being.

Hence, what we're about to see will not be a reprise of the general free-for-all we've been witnessing at the breakdown, whereby players coming in from the side have been penalised merely with a free-kick rather than a full penalty. As a result, this weekend and the remainder of the Northern Hemisphere season will not be a feast of indirect free kicks. The tackle/ruck area will be refereed just as it was last season.

The more significant changes centre around the lineout and maul. One of the more ill-conceived ELVs allows mauls to be brought down. This, again, seems like a knee-jerk, Australian reaction to the World Cup to negate the maul. The jury will be out on this one for a while, but, sensibly, the English RFU and the IRFU have decreed that it will only come into being from under-20s rugby upwards.

Against that, there will be no restrictions on numbers at lineouts (save for there being a minimum of two), which will lead to some interesting tactical choices by coaches and teams when defending lineouts, as they could opt to just leave two in the lineout, or pack it with a dozen players to enhance their chances of stealing the ball.

At any rate, this simplifies one aspect of the game for referees.

Another of the more significant ELVs coming into being here restricts the options for kicking directly to touch from inside the 22, whereby if a team brings the ball into its own 22 they gain no ground for then kicking the ball out on the full.

Furthermore, quick throws do not have to be in a straight line, and while very often they weren't beforehand anyway, now it encourages more quick throws.

On the evidence of the Tri-Nations, this will lead to more wingers standing deeper, more counter-attacking and the ball in play for longer stretches amid more kicking for territory.

Yet there are a couple of anomalies here which are worth pointing out. If, say, the ball rolls into touch outside the 22, and a player takes a quick throw from inside the 22 which leads to a kick by himself or a team-mate directly into touch, again there is no gain of ground.

Likewise, if a scrum feed is from outside the 22, even if the ball is then passed from inside the 22 to the outhalf, there is no gain of ground for kicking the ball out on the full.

There is already universal approval for the law which imposes a five-metre offside line for backlines at scrums. This has made scrums a far more potent attacking platform. As has already been seen in the Tri-Nations, and even in the first two weeks of the French Top 14, whereas a defending scrumhalf is restricted in where he moves, the attacking scrumhalf can take a pass off the base from his number eight without retreating five metres and therefore become an extra attacker with much more space to use. Furthermore, unlike a lineout maul, the defending backs must retreat to remain five metres behind the hindmost foot if their scrum goes backwards.

Ironically therefore (given the Aussies' desire to neuter this set-piece), the ELVs have only underlined the scrum's importance.

This one seems sure to be cast in stone, though the bad news is that so might many others when the IRB council meet next May to decide which of the ELVs will be approved.

EXPERIMENTAL LAW VARIATIONS KEY CHANGES

MATCH OFFICIALS

Assistant referees (formerly touchjudges) are able to assist the referee in any way the referee requires. This is writing into law what has been going on anyway, more or less.

MAULS

The law which prevented head and shoulders from being lower than hips has been rescinded. This is simply recognising what was already being done.

Pulling down a maul will be legal provided the player grabs an opponent anywhere from the hips to the shoulders. The IRFU, along with the RFU in England, have decreed that this will not apply to any rugby from under-19 down.

TOUCH AND LINEOUT

Kicking directly into touch from inside the 22. If a team puts the ball back into their 22, by whatever means, and the ball is then kicked directly into touch, there is no gain in ground. Instead, the throw-in is taken from where the ball is kicked.

A quick throw-in may be taken straight or back towards the throwing team's goal line.

Numbers will no longer apply, ie, both teams can put in as many players as they wish (provided there is a minimum of two) between the 5m and 15m lines infield from the touchline.

The receiver (usually a scrumhalf) must stand at least two metres away from a lineout (in effect, to ensure he cannot be a lifter).

The immediate opponent of the player throwing into a lineout (usually a hooker) must be two metres from the 5m line at the front of a lineout (also to prevent him becoming a lifter).

Lineout players may grip a jumper before the ball is thrown in. This was happening anyway.

Lifting is permitted, which also merely legalises what had been the practice.

SCRUM

Introduction of an offside line 5m behind the hindmost feet of the scrum. This applies to all backs, bar the respective scrumhalves, and to the attacking team. This has created space for more attacking moves off scrums.

Identification of scrumhalf offside lines. The defending scrumhalf can stay on the put-in side of the scrum and remain behind the ball, but if he goes behind the scrum, he too must retreat five metres from the hind foot.

CORNER POSTS

The corner posts are no longer considered to be touch-in-goal except when the ball is grounded against the post. In effect, they are now in play, so if a player grounds the ball on the line or beyond while in contact with the post, it's a try. Furthermore, if a ball rolls against the base of the corner post but remains in the field of play, play continues.