Experimental law variations
Encyclopedia
The experimental law variations (ELVs) were a proposed set of amendments to the laws
of rugby union
. They were propsed by the sport's governing body, the International Rugby Board
(IRB), and trialled games at Stellenbosch University
in 2006. In 2008 thirteen of the 23 variations trialled were played globally including; greater responsibility for assistant referees, corner posts no longer considered to touch in-goal, no gain in ground if the ball is moved into the 22 by a player from the same team as the kicker, quick throw ins can travel backwards, no restrictions to players in the lineout, restrictions on where receivers and opposition hookers can stand in a lineout, pregripping and lifting allowed, mauls can be pulled down and players can enter with their head and shoulders lower than their hips, offside line is five metres away from the scrum for the backs and scrum half must be positioned close to the scrum, all offences apart from foul play and offsides are a free kick, and unplayable rucks and mauls are restarted with a free kick. In 2009 the IRB approved ten of the laws, rejecting the laws relating to mauls, numbers in a lineout and the increase in sanctions punishable by free kicks.
is complex and so are the laws governing it. Rugby League and American Football overcome this by abolishing any contest — play stops after a successful tackle and there is no subsequent contest for possession until the next play. In rugby union the ongoing contest for the ball at the "breakdown" is one of the most important and integral aspects of the game, something that makes it unique in the world of football.
The problems observed with the previous laws mostly revolve around the fact that in practice the contest for the ball was often halted through law infringements. Different referees used different interpretations of the complex laws, resulting in many games being decided by penalty goals
awarded by referees for infringements that were not immediately obvious to observers or even the players.
The Stellenbosch ELVs were based on proposals made in the mid 2000s, and came to wider prominence following the 2007 Rugby World Cup
when outgoing IRB president Syd Millar
explained that in his opinion amendments were needed because delays in the release of the ball from the contest for possession were having adverse effects. In his view, the domination of defence over attack was slowing the continuity of play, exemplified by what some viewers considered a dour final match in which no tries
were scored.
Millar said that the game needed to be sped up a bit, to make it easier to play, easier to referee, easier to understand and to produce more options for the players. The amendments concentrate on rucks and mauls
, but include other aspects which help keep the ball in play and reduce stoppages for infringements and penalties.
The South African, New Zealand and Australian
rugby unions requested that the laws be introduced to the Tri Nations
in 2008 as well but Syd Millar has said the results in the Super 14, which is "near enough international level", need to be studied before use in matches between nations can be sanctioned.
The resistance to the rule changes are based on a desire to ensure the contest for the ball is not replaced by a purely attacking, scoring free-for-all where defence is hampered and scorelines multiply. Increased player numbers and increasing spectators in the Northern Hemisphere, along with a more flowing style of play adopted at club level, is held as evidence that the law changes are not required.
There was a criticism that the changes would benefit teams with weaker scrums and ineffective set piece play, but this has been rebuffed somewhat with the application of the experimental laws by leagues in the Southern Hemisphere. It has been revealed that a strong scrum is still strong no matter whether it is set once or many times and can still be used as an attacking weapon.
Bryan Habana
was the first high profile player to criticise the laws, stating that they were turning the game into rugby league
by eliminating most of the breaks in play.
There has also been criticism from many coaches, players and fans in the northern hemisphere. Sean Fitzpatrick
, (former All Black hooker and most capped All Black of all time), Shaun Edwards
(coach London Wasps/Wales), Warren Gatland
(former All Black and coach Wales), Jason Leonard
(most capped prop in history), Martin Johnson (2003 World Cup Winning captain and England Coach), Brian Moore, Paul Ackford
and Josh Kronfeld
(All Black), amongst others have and continue to raise concerns that the Stellenbosch Laws will be to the detriment of the game. The reduction of breaks in the game, faster paced play and the tendency to mix backs and forwards requires the players to be fitter and more athletic. This may produce the desired effect for television viewers watching the elite players, but the requirements may make rugby virtually unplayable for participants at the amateur level, undermining a fundamental claim of Rugby Union, that it is a game for "all shapes and all sizes". The law allowing collapsing of a maul has become a major worry at community level because of the dangers it may cause inexperienced players.
Irish Coach Declan Kidney has observed that disallowing mauls at the breakdown means defences stay spread out, meaning less space for attackers, making it more difficult for an attacking side to advance, resulting in more kicking. In this case the ELVs, rather than encouraging attacking play have produced the opposite effect.
Laws of rugby union
The laws of rugby union are defined by the International Rugby Board and dictate how the game should be played. They are enforced by a referee, generally with the help of two assistants. When playing a game of rugby union the overall objective is to score more points than the opposition through...
of rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
. They were propsed by the sport's governing body, the International Rugby Board
International Rugby Board
The International Rugby Board is the governing body for the sport of rugby union. It was founded in 1886 as the International Rugby Football Board by the unions of Scotland, Wales and Ireland. England refused to join until 1890. The International Rugby Football Board changed its name to the...
(IRB), and trialled games at Stellenbosch University
Stellenbosch University
Stellenbosch University is a public research university situated in the town of Stellenbosch, South Africa. Other nearby universities are the University of Cape Town and University of the Western Cape....
in 2006. In 2008 thirteen of the 23 variations trialled were played globally including; greater responsibility for assistant referees, corner posts no longer considered to touch in-goal, no gain in ground if the ball is moved into the 22 by a player from the same team as the kicker, quick throw ins can travel backwards, no restrictions to players in the lineout, restrictions on where receivers and opposition hookers can stand in a lineout, pregripping and lifting allowed, mauls can be pulled down and players can enter with their head and shoulders lower than their hips, offside line is five metres away from the scrum for the backs and scrum half must be positioned close to the scrum, all offences apart from foul play and offsides are a free kick, and unplayable rucks and mauls are restarted with a free kick. In 2009 the IRB approved ten of the laws, rejecting the laws relating to mauls, numbers in a lineout and the increase in sanctions punishable by free kicks.
The need for law amendments
At the time, the Laws of Rugby Union book from the International Rugby Board stretched to 190 pages, much of them covering the contest for possession and continuity of play, which are key features of the union code and are developed more extensively than in other forms of football. The contest for possession in or after a tackleTackle (football move)
Most forms of football have a move known as a tackle. The primary purposes of tackling is to disposses an opponent of the ball, to stop the player from gaining ground towards goal or to stop them from carrying out what they intend....
is complex and so are the laws governing it. Rugby League and American Football overcome this by abolishing any contest — play stops after a successful tackle and there is no subsequent contest for possession until the next play. In rugby union the ongoing contest for the ball at the "breakdown" is one of the most important and integral aspects of the game, something that makes it unique in the world of football.
The problems observed with the previous laws mostly revolve around the fact that in practice the contest for the ball was often halted through law infringements. Different referees used different interpretations of the complex laws, resulting in many games being decided by penalty goals
Penalty (rugby union)
A penalty in rugby union is the main disciplinary sanction available to the referee to penalise a team who commit deliberate infringements. The team who did not commit the infringement are given possession of the ball and they may either kick it towards touch , attempt a place kick at goal, or tap...
awarded by referees for infringements that were not immediately obvious to observers or even the players.
The Stellenbosch ELVs were based on proposals made in the mid 2000s, and came to wider prominence following the 2007 Rugby World Cup
2007 Rugby World Cup
The 2007 Rugby World Cup was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by France from 7 September to 20 October. France won the hosting rights in 2003,...
when outgoing IRB president Syd Millar
Syd Millar
Sydney "Syd" Millar, CBE, is the outgoing chairman of the International Rugby Board. He was born in Ballymena and previously played for Ballymena RFC and represented Ireland in the pack, winning 37 caps as a prop. In addition, he played 9 times for the British and Irish Lions...
explained that in his opinion amendments were needed because delays in the release of the ball from the contest for possession were having adverse effects. In his view, the domination of defence over attack was slowing the continuity of play, exemplified by what some viewers considered a dour final match in which no tries
Try
A try is the major way of scoring points in rugby league and rugby union football. A try is scored by grounding the ball in the opposition's in-goal area...
were scored.
Millar said that the game needed to be sped up a bit, to make it easier to play, easier to referee, easier to understand and to produce more options for the players. The amendments concentrate on rucks and mauls
Playing rugby union
A typical passage of rugby union takes the following form. One team will initially gain possession of the ball, either from the kick-off, a restart kick or a set piece...
, but include other aspects which help keep the ball in play and reduce stoppages for infringements and penalties.
Panel
The Experimental Law Variations (ELV's) were devised on behalf of the IRB by The Laws Project Group (LPG), which was set up by the IRB’s Rugby Committee in 2006 and comprises: Chairman and IRB Council member Bill Nolan; IRB Development Manager Bruce Cook; former World Cup winning Wallaby coach Rod Macqueen; former Springbok coach Ian McIntosh; former Scottish coach Richie Dixon; former French player, coach and former IRB Regional Development Manager Pierre Villepreux; former All Black captain and Wellington coach Graham Mourie and the IRB Referee Manager Paddy O'Brien.. The Laws Project Group was dissolved in April 2009 after selected ELV's were incorporated into the Laws of Rugby.Laws
The proposed law amendments were:- In the original version of the laws, players were allowed to use their hands at all times at the breakdown. A slightly different rule, prohibiting hands in the ruck but making it only a free kick, has been trialled as well. The final rule regarding hands in the ruck has not been established. In any event, players must come into the breakdown in an onside position, and only players who are on their feet are allowed to play the ball. The side that takes the ball into the breakdown loses it if they do not recycle possession.
- At the scrum, all backs except for the two scrum-halves must be at least 5 metres behind the hindmost foot of the scrum, instead of level with it as allowed in the previous laws.
- Either side can use as many players as they like in the line-out, at any time, providing they fit between the 5-metre line and the 15-metre line.
- The opposing hooker in a lineout no longer has to stand between the 5-metre line and touchline; he can stand anywhere he wishes as long as he conforms to the laws.
- On a quick throw in the ball can be thrown straight or back towards the defenders' goal line, but not forwards towards the opposition goal line.
- Where touch judges are trained referees, they will be referred to as assistant referees, with responsibility for policing the offside lines.
- Penalty kicks are generally to be given only for offside and foul play. Most other penalties will become free kicks, with the option of taking a scrum as in the current laws, which cannot be used for a kick at goal or a dropped goal.
- If the ball is passed or run back into the 22 and then kicked out on the full before a tackle, ruck or maul is effected, the resulting lineout is taken from where the kick was made. However, if the kick bounces into touch, the lineout is taken from where the ball went into touch, as in the previous laws.
- The maul can be collapsed by defending sides without incurring a penalty if the forward momentum of the attacking side has been neutralised or reversed.
- The corner flag, currently situated where the try line meets the touchline, will become part of the field of play. Under the current laws, a try is disallowed if a player touches the corner flag while attempting to touch the ball down.
Trials
After the initial trials at Stellenbosch University, the laws were enacted in the following competitions;- Scotland's Super Cup tournament for Premiership teams from January 2007
- Cambridge University in the first division of their inter-college league
- England's County Championship
- The Shute ShieldShute ShieldThe Shute Shield is a rugby union competition in Sydney, New South Wales. It is the premier grade rugby trophy in NSW rugby. The Shute Shield is awarded at the end of the Sydney Club Rugby season to the team that wins the Grand Final...
club competition in New South Wales. - BrisbaneBrisbaneBrisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
club competitions - The defunct Australian Rugby ChampionshipAustralian Rugby ChampionshipThe Australian Rugby Championship, often abbreviated to the ARC , was a domestic Rugby union football club competition in Australia which ran for only one season in August–October 2007...
, in response to the popular feedback received from the NSW and Queensland club competitions - The international provincial Super 14Super 14Super Rugby is the largest and pre-eminent professional Rugby union competition in the Southern Hemisphere...
competition in 2008.
The South African, New Zealand and Australian
SANZAR
SANZAR is the body which operates Super Rugby and Tri Nations competitions in rugby union. It is a joint venture of the South African Rugby Union, the New Zealand Rugby Union and the Australian Rugby Union, formed in 1996.Created shortly after rugby's move to professionalism in 1995, SANZAR's two...
rugby unions requested that the laws be introduced to the Tri Nations
Rugby Union Tri Nations
The Rugby Championship is an international rugby union competition contested annually by Argentina, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The competition is organized by SANZAR, a consortium formed by the governing bodies of the Australian Rugby Union, the New Zealand Rugby Union and the South...
in 2008 as well but Syd Millar has said the results in the Super 14, which is "near enough international level", need to be studied before use in matches between nations can be sanctioned.
Global Trial
On 1 May 2008 the IRB announced that its Council had approved a global trial of Experimental Law Variations (ELVs) for a period of 12 months, starting on 1 August 2008. The trial, which applied at all levels of the Game, involved 13 of the 23 ELVs that had been undergoing experimentation in approved tournaments around the world in the preceding two years. Most of the variations were the same as those trialled in the 2008 Super 14 and 2008 Tri Nations competitions. The significant differences were that the global trial did not include the experimental law which substitutes a free kick instead of a penalty for many offences, but did include the experimental laws relating to numbers in the lineout and collapsing the maul.Feedback from trials
Use of the ELVs in the 2007 Australian Rugby Championship was deemed an overall success. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation which broadcasts most of the games said general reactions by coaches, players, and fans was overwhelmingly positive, with these specific details reported:- The ball spent more time in play, producing a faster game.
- Fewer penalties (kicks at goal) were given.
- More free kicks were awarded, but were usually run instantly, producing quick play-ons.
- "Some uncertainty lingers" over the rule allowing the maul to be pulled down, as it "negates to an extent a quintessential element of the game".
- Fewer kicks were made into touch on the full from inside the 22.
- The short kicking game (with the ball not going into touch) was employed more extensively than usual.
- Forwards and backs line up against each other more often, blurring the lines of traditional positional play.
Criticisms
The need for rule changes to satisfy those who prefer a certain type of open rugby is under question, given that the Rugby World Cup 2007 broke all viewing figures for the sport. The semi-finals and final were the most watched rugby matches on record, indicating that many viewers are attracted to the nature and tension of the game as played under current laws. The dour games some saw could also be interpreted as a nail biting, passionate contest with both sides engaging in courageous, hard-hitting defence.The resistance to the rule changes are based on a desire to ensure the contest for the ball is not replaced by a purely attacking, scoring free-for-all where defence is hampered and scorelines multiply. Increased player numbers and increasing spectators in the Northern Hemisphere, along with a more flowing style of play adopted at club level, is held as evidence that the law changes are not required.
There was a criticism that the changes would benefit teams with weaker scrums and ineffective set piece play, but this has been rebuffed somewhat with the application of the experimental laws by leagues in the Southern Hemisphere. It has been revealed that a strong scrum is still strong no matter whether it is set once or many times and can still be used as an attacking weapon.
Bryan Habana
Bryan Habana
Bryan Gary Habana is a South African rugby union player who plays as a wing for the Western Province in the Currie Cup, the Stormers in Super 14, and the 2007 Rugby World Cup champions Springboks...
was the first high profile player to criticise the laws, stating that they were turning the game into rugby league
Rugby league
Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
by eliminating most of the breaks in play.
There has also been criticism from many coaches, players and fans in the northern hemisphere. Sean Fitzpatrick
Sean Fitzpatrick
Sean Fitzpatrick MNZM is a former rugby union footballer who represented New Zealand, and is widely regarded as one of the finest players ever to come from that country. He is also the son of former player Brian Fitzpatrick....
, (former All Black hooker and most capped All Black of all time), Shaun Edwards
Shaun Edwards
Shaun Edwards OBE is an English rugby union coach and former rugby league player. He is defence coach of Wales, a post he has held since 2008. In November 2011 he left London Wasps after 10 years with the club, latterly as head coach....
(coach London Wasps/Wales), Warren Gatland
Warren Gatland
Warren David Gatland is a former New Zealand rugby footballer and the current head coach of the Wales national team.Gatland was born in Hamilton, New Zealand and educated at Hamilton Boys' High School and Waikato University...
(former All Black and coach Wales), Jason Leonard
Jason Leonard
Jason Leonard OBE , also known as "The Fun Bus", is an English former rugby union prop forward who held the world record for winning the most international caps until 2005, when it was surpassed by Australia's scrum-half George Gregan...
(most capped prop in history), Martin Johnson (2003 World Cup Winning captain and England Coach), Brian Moore, Paul Ackford
Paul Ackford
Paul Ackford is a former English rugby union international who played lock forward. He was formerly an inspector in the Metropolitan Police, and is now a journalist.Ackford was born in Hanover, West Germany...
and Josh Kronfeld
Josh Kronfeld
Joshua Adrian Kronfeld is a former rugby union footballer who represented New Zealand at international level and Otago, the Highlanders and Leicester at first-class level...
(All Black), amongst others have and continue to raise concerns that the Stellenbosch Laws will be to the detriment of the game. The reduction of breaks in the game, faster paced play and the tendency to mix backs and forwards requires the players to be fitter and more athletic. This may produce the desired effect for television viewers watching the elite players, but the requirements may make rugby virtually unplayable for participants at the amateur level, undermining a fundamental claim of Rugby Union, that it is a game for "all shapes and all sizes". The law allowing collapsing of a maul has become a major worry at community level because of the dangers it may cause inexperienced players.
Irish Coach Declan Kidney has observed that disallowing mauls at the breakdown means defences stay spread out, meaning less space for attackers, making it more difficult for an attacking side to advance, resulting in more kicking. In this case the ELVs, rather than encouraging attacking play have produced the opposite effect.
Implementation
The following ELVs were implemented into Law in 2009:- At the scrum, all backs except for the two scrum-halves must be at least 5 metres behind the hindmost foot of the scrum.
- Either side can use as many players as they like in the line-out, at any time, providing they fit between the 5-metre line and the 15-metre line.
- The opposing hooker in a lineout no longer has to stand between the 5-metre line and touchline; he can stand anywhere he wishes as long as he conforms to the laws.
- On a quick throw in the ball can be thrown straight or back towards the defenders' goal line, but not forwards towards the opposition goal line.
- Where touch judges are trained referees, they are now referred to as assistant referees, with responsibility for policing the offside lines.
- Penalty kicks are generally to be given only for offside and foul play. Most other penalties have become free kicks, with the option of taking a scrum as in the current laws, which cannot be used for a kick at goal or a dropped goal.
- If the ball is passed or run back into the 22 and then kicked out on the full before a tackle, ruck or maul is effected, the resulting lineout is taken from where the kick was made. However, if the kick bounces into touch, the lineout is taken from where the ball went into touch.
- The maul can be collapsed by defending sides without incurring a penalty if the forward momentum of the attacking side has been neutralised or reversed.
- The corner flag, currently situated where the try line meets the touchline, is now part of the field of play. Under the previous laws, a try was disallowed if a player touched the corner flag before touching the ball down.