Four new laws - including conversion shot clocks and less penalising of crooked line-out throws - will be introduced into the game worldwide from January.
All about speeding up the game. The bigest culprit right now is the whistle however. Given the size of the bokkes forwards, anything to speed them up is a good idea. But I'm still dissapointed not to see at least 2 backs mandated on the bench, or a cut to it.
To reduce the whistle it might be time to warn specific players. One warning for giving away a penalty and then a yellow card. Might be funny to see teams at 10 players
I would like the time for all kicks reduced even further, 60 seconds is way too long. 10s are able to drop kick at a snap and there's been recent instances where the ball drops off the T, and the 10 resets it and kicks in about 10-15 seconds. We need to be less precious about kicks and stop making it some sacred moment. Reward kickers who can get the ball away accurately at speed, rather than giving them time for a meditation and moment of zen.
Does that include stopping teams like Ireland and others from driving round the side of the ruck, flopping on the ball and pushing the 9 out of the way? How can that not be “playing the 9”?
None of the changes in the article impact the importance of the scrum in the slightest; all it means is less fake injuries, water breaks and pissing about setting them up.