Experimental laws

Foster said that some of the new laws are common sense, such as moving the corner posts out of the field of play, but others needed further analysis. The laws have already been trialled in New Zealand’s provincial B competition as well as the new Australian Rugby Championship, but Foster doubts the IRB’s claims that those competitions have seen the ball in play for 10 percent longer, suggesting that some think the game is actually slower.

Adopting the new laws for the Super 14 would also be a politically risky move for SANZAR, as the new laws will not be officially ratified until at least June 2008, well after the Super 14 final. If the final version of the laws changes from the experimental stage, that would mean three seasons in a row under different laws for Super 14.

Another option for the IRB is to simply leave the laws how they are and let coaches and players think of new ways to solve dominating defences. All sports go through periods where defence dominates attack, but then the new defensive patterns are solved and attack will dominate, and so on.

Whatever the IRB decide, Foster’s advice to just “sit back, take a deep breath and actually analyse what is going on,” is sound. Perhaps bring in the new laws for 1 January 2009, but changing the laws now is too late, and will only result in confusion and frustration for all involved.

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