The North ain't playin' by our rules

By MARC HINTON - RugbyHeaven | Tuesday, 04 March 2008

Told ya so. These flash new experimental laws which are currently changing the face of Super 14 rugby are about to join good old-fashioned rucking and coaches who admit they got it wrong on the extinct list.

That didn't take long, did it? What are we, three weeks into the competition-long trial, and already it appears certain stodgy outfits up north (and in South Africa, for that matter) have their minds made up.

But, as predicted here in this very column not so long ago, the IRB's much-touted ELVs (Experimental Law Variations) have about as much chance of surviving the year as Helen Clark does.

The most pointed indication of that came just recently when the IRB convened the CEOs of the so-called "tier-one" national unions in Hong Kong for a good old chin-wag.

Somewhere between putting the kibosh on a matchup between the Six Nations and Tri-Nations champions (far too sensible a proposition for anyone's liking, but more on that later) and trawling over some complex format to make the inter-hemisphere test matchups mildly relevant, the ELVs came up as a topic in the conversation.

And boy was the response predictable.

Northern unions (unnamed, but most definitely including England) offered such unadulterated opposition to the IRB-driven law changes that even an optimist like John O'Neill is practically already throwing his hands up and admitting defeat.

This was O'Neill's take on the response the ELVs produced in Hong Kong.

"We were a bit taken back that following a presentation a couple of the northern hemisphere unions indicated very strong reservations, and a very strong level of scepticism about the new laws. We are still trying to absorb that before we contemplate what we are going to do about the Tri-Nations."

Memo O'Neill: Forget them for the Tri-Nations, we're just wasting everyone's time bedding in laws that are never going to make it past the northern gatekeepers. What, make the game faster, more fluent and more attractive to watch? You must be joking, old boy!

As an exasperated O'Neill pointed out, the IRB have been driving these law changes since February 2006. "We're now in March 2008 and some of the four Home Unions are saying two years later that they have strong reservations about the laws, and yet they haven't even trialled them."

That just sums it up really. Their minds are made up purely on the evidence of what they've seen in the opening rounds of the Super 14. Which to them must seem like anti-rugby, rather than what they're used to.

Up in northern hemisphere climes they've always looked at the Super 14 with a good measure of distrust. They regard it as an abomination of rugby, what with all the passing of the ball and the desire to score tries.

Their latest reaction just confirms this, with O'Neill observing that the northern objectors regard the ELVs as nothing more than "a southern hemisphere plot". Never mind that they've been introduced after extensive and independent IRB analysis on what is best for the game of rugby.

Also, heaven only knows what they would have made of it if the Sanzar unions hadn't taken the more radical proposals out for this year's Super 14 trial.

"They have this suspicion that they were introduced by us to overcome our scrummaging problems," added O'Neill. "I don't know how many times we have to say that these aren't our laws, but the IRB's."

Even the ultra-conservative Steve Tew concedes it's going to be an uphill battle. "They're very concerned we don't lose the shape of the game but we're saying ‘trial them, then make a decision'."

None of the above surprises me in the slightest. In fact it's as predictable as an All Black World Cup choke.

Given the weight of vote that will be needed to get this legislation through, it was always going to be a tough task persuading the northern sceptics that they should abandon the game they treasure, that suits their climate, and their mentality, in favour of something more vibrant, user and spectator-friendly and requiring a fair degree of athleticism and fitness.

Given that only Scotland of the major northern unions has even trialled these new laws, it's easy to be fairly pessimistic when you're hearing the negativity already emanating from up that way.

As already demonstrated with the IRB-led quest to establish an integrated international season, if the north don't want it, it simply ain't going to happen.

Which brings us to this proposed matchup between the champions north and south. Sounds sensible, right?

Well, it's died a death already. One lousy match that would have drawn huge interest – not to mention money – and they can't make it happen.

Although at least here there is a greater good at play. The plan is to get this inter-hemisphere competition up and running, essentially giving much-needed weight to the June and November tests.

What is proposed is some sort of a system where these matches carry points and at the end of it the two best sides square off in a good old-fashioned final.

Again, sounds sensible. But when you factor in things like format, commercial considerations, revenue-sharing and, well, Argentina in general, it's easier said than done.

Already 2010 is being spoken of as a best possible scenario. They could still be trying to get the new laws approved by the north then, too.