Better Rugby Rules

Source: Deans one step ahead of Henry in adjusting to whole new maul game– Spiro Zavos

Danie Craven, the most important authority on the laws in the history of the game, once said that when one change was made it often affected other aspects of play. He used the analogy of pulling a thread from a jersey and seeing, say, the bottom half unravel. His argument was that coaches must have the insight to see the implications of changes.

The ELVs that were played in the Southern Hemisphere to the end of the Super 14 tournament favoured a free-flowing game. Because the rolling maul could be pulled down, sides moved the ball away from the set pieces. With short-arm penalty sanctions in force at the ruck, teams got plenty of quick restarts to keep the flow of the match going.

The laws now allow for more driving and mauling. Play is more structured in that there are more set pieces. The rucks have become more of a contest if a side has a genuine openside breakaway to get his hands on the ball first.

COMMENTS: What ! Coaches now have to select rugby players on the basis of there specialised skills rather than there ‘free flowing’ rugby influence, shock horror ! Spiro statement supports the argument that the ELVs diluted traditional rugby roles, as this blog has said from the beginning, and what the north also saw from the start. Spiro was an ARU ELV cheerleader, but he new all along that the ELVs were not rugger ! The above statement also shows why the “Blog Villains” are on the list, because they were just plain wrong. Mr Tew (NZRU CEO) had statistics for Africa to say otherwise, or so he thought, another reason why his analysis skills are questionable.