THE HERALD REPORTS

Nolan: ELVs should go through
KEVIN FERRIE, Chief Rugby Writer March 31 2009
The Scot who has been in charge of rugby's controversial experimental law variations remains convinced that the majority of those which have been trialled across world rugby this year will be implemented on a permanent basis.

Bill Nolan, the International Rugby Board council member who has chaired the working party that produced what have become widely known as the ELVs, has some regrets about the way the experiment has been handled.

However, he still believes they have achieved their objective of contributing to an improved spectacle and making the sport easier to understand.



"It was a pity we allowed the Super 14 to cherry pick the ELVs when it was introduced there because the way in which the various changes were designed was in order to interact with one another ," he said. "Instead we ended up with fragmentation with the experiment.

"While I still think most willgo through, there will be some discussion about the change that allows bringing the maul down; some of the northern hemisphere unions in particular have reservations there. That is ironic, though, because, when we were given our remit, the maul was one of the things that people wanted us to look at because it was stifling the game."

Nolan pointed out that mis-information has circulated since he sat down with some of the best-known coaches in rugby to get this process under way four years ago.

"One of the great myths is that the laws project group sat down with blank sheets of paper and came up with its proposals,"

he said. "The parameters were actually set out after the areas people wanted us to look at were defined by the conference on the playing of the game that took place in Auckland in January 2004.

"It was attended by many of the world's leading coaches, including Ian McGeechan, Andy Robinson, Clive Woodward, Eddie O'Sullivan and Graeme Hendry.

"There were no suits anywhere to be seen and I wasn't at it. These were rugby people calling for the changes and the IRB undertook to put a group together that would look into things like their concerns that the maul could not be defended and the breakdown was too messy. They also asked us to look at the numbers in the lineouts, at kicking from hand and at the scrum.

"They were not saying the game was in crisis. They were saying: We've got a great game, let's try to make it better.' "

Some of those who were at that initial Auckland conference have been among the more vocal critics of the ELVs, but their arguments tend to reflect their own interests and disappointments.

Nolan said he had endured criticism from fellow Scots when Edinburgh lost an ugly Heineken Cup tie to Wasps earlier this season as both teams kicked the ball relentlessly.

Yet that very same weekend, Glasgow Warriors played one of the most exciting matches ever seen in that tournament against Bath. As has always been the case, the quality of the match reflected the ambition of the teams to try to win the game, rather than trying toavoid losing it.

"The problem at the top end of the game is that a lot of elite coaches don't want a contest for the ball," Nolan noted.

"Even in that Edinburgh game, though, we saw the benefit of the ELVs when, against Wasps who would previously have been expected to dominate them in the maul, they scored a great try from that area because they produced a dynamic maul which can be set up under the new laws.

"Interestingly, coaches further down the leagues have made much better use of that since the ELVs were introduced than they have at professional level."

While spectator appeal and comprehension was high on the list of considerations, Nolan said it had been paramount that the sport's founding principles be retained, that the sport should, if possible remain for all shapes and sizes and that there should be a contest for the ball in every phase. That should apply whether restarting the game or at breakdowns.

The IRB will stage a meeting of senior representatives, chief executives, directors of rugby and coaches, from all the major unions this week, at which the ELVs will be discussed. It will then be further considered at the IRB council meeting next month with a view to getting a single set of laws in place globally from August 1.

Nolan believes most of the ELVs will go through but called on all involved to consider the benefits to the game as a whole. "Part of my job is totry to calm the zealots down," he said. "All I have asked is that unions go into these discussions with open minds as we did when we drew up the ELVs."

As for the process, he believes lessons have been learned beyond those relating directly to the ELVs themselves.

"I think the analytical process has been very good," said Nolan, who has made it clear throughout that his role as chairman is as a facilitator who has left the rugby matters to the experts on his working party.

"Trying it as an experiment across the globe over a long period has had its problems, though. Perhaps the fact that we have moratoriums between World Cups so have to try to do everything at once means people are having to deal with too much in one go."

This article was originally posted on 31-Mar-2009, 07:31 by Hugh Barrow.
Last updated by Hugh Barrow on 31-Mar-2009, 07:32.