Changing Rugby Union's rules....

[Pookie Bear]

I saw this on the BBC website and thought it looked really interesting. Hands in the ruck? Collapsing a maul? Backs having to be 5m behind the scrum (and possibly rucks/mauls too!)? Most penalties being downgraded to free-kicks? It may sound a bit out of the blue, but it's worth a read for any Union fans (whether you like the idea or not). I can definitely see the appeal of making changes which would encourage everyone to try and play a more fluid game:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/6136244.stm

 

[hogfather]

It had positive reports from South Africa, where they've been trying them. Quicker ball is good, and I'm glad they're not de-powering the scrum. This probably suits the southern hemisphere game more, they play closer to these rules than the north at the moment.

 

[oddjob62]

I quite like the look of most of them, except allowing to collapse a maul. The rolling maul is a great weapon, and beautiful to watch when done well. I'd hate to see it basically removed from the game, as would be the case if intentional collapsing was made legal.