17/02/2008 12:00

The Super 14 provides the first serious trial of the Experimental Law Variations (ELVs) which rugby's bosses and rulemakers believe will speed up the game and maximize the amount of time the ball remains in play.

The first round of matches on Friday and on Saturday suggested players, referees - and spectators - face a period of adjustment, particularly in the contentious tackled ball area.

There were no more tries or points scored in the first round than in the same round last year. The largest winning margins were posted by the Crusaders, who beat the Brumbies 34-3, the Blues, who beat the Chiefs 32-14 and the Waratahs, 20-3 winners over the Hurricanes.

The Crusaders and Blues each scored four tries and the Waratahs scored three. The winning teams in five of the seven first-round games scored three or more tries, the exceptions being - notably - the Sharks who scored two in their 17-10 win over the Force and the defending champion Bulls, who scored one in their 16-9 win over the Stormers.

No one has claimed the ELVs will revolutionise rugby, simply that they will alleviate the long periods in which the ball is out of play: trapped at the bottom of a ruck, secured in a maul, out of action while scrums are set and reset.

The rules provide for free kicks, rather than penalties for many infringements around the tackled ball. That provision means that play is often immediately restarted by the non-offending team taking a tap kick and returning the ball to play, rather than by slower devices.

Not perfect

The evidence of weekend matches was that there are wrinkles to be ironed out in that area. Free kicks proliferated and, while they appeared to achieve the object of speeding up the game, they also contributed to a frenetic and unstructured style of play in some matches.

There is also a heavy incentive for teams to take scrums from free kicks in attacking positions because the rules require both attacking and defending backlines to be five meters away from the set piece.

The Auckland Blues were particularly effective in operating in that new no-man's land, scoring two tries from scrums during Saturday's second half.

"It was an extremely fast game," Blues captain Troy Flavell said. "As soon as those line breaks come along, it puts a lot of pressure on both teams."

Referees seemed to cope, though they couldn't entirely avoid the spotlight. South Africa's Marius Jonker awarded two disputed tries to the Queensland Reds' in their 22-16 win over the Otago Highlanders, asking the television official only if he saw "any reason why I shouldn't award a try."

On both occasions replays failed to show the ball had been grounded.

Fitness will clearly be a key factor in this year's competition. There were fewer stoppages in first round matches, more kicking and many players reported they were tested by the high pace of play.

Bulls and Springbok half Fourie du Preez was unimpressed by the impact of the new rules.

"The game is very different and I admit I did watch a few of the other games before we played [on Saturday]," he said.

"I didn't enjoy watching those games and I didn't enjoy playing under the new laws. There's too much kicking and counterattacking and not enough set pieces."