How Rassie is preparing the Boks for new rules

Before the Springboks’ clash against Australia in Brisbane, Rassie Erasmus has labelled some of the law variations set to be trialled in the Rugby Championship “interesting”.

The teams clash in the competition opener on Saturday and it won’t just be their competition credentials that will be on trial at Suncorp Stadium. A number of variations will come under the microscope, with the accent firmly falling on speeding up the game. World Rugby wants to attract more eyeballs to the sport and long passages without meaningful action are to be outlawed.

Players will generally have to operate under the mantra “get on with it”, with referees now encouraged to act against procrastinators. The shot clock for conversions and penalties will give goal kickers 60 seconds to complete their routine. Scrumhalves, in particular, will be required to take the initiative.

“The most interesting one is the box kick when the ref says ‘use it’ within five seconds. That will change a lot of things,” said Erasmus. “When they say ‘use it’, will they stick to it? How will the nines handle the pressure? That is something we worked hard at.”

Scrumhalves will have some protection in the speedier execution of their duties. A scrumhalf whose team is in possession is now effectively off limits to the clutches of their opposite number at the scrum, while an opposing player who is attached to a ruck or a maul is not allowed to tackle or impede him/her within a metre of that event.

At the scrum, the feeding scrumhalf cannot be tracked to the base of the scrum by his opposite scrumhalf, who has to remain at the mouth or retreat to the offside line.

In the event of a crooked line-out throw referees will allow play to continue if the defending team fails to contest. That, some feared, could be open to subterfuge, but Erasmus had assurances. “You have to throw to someone in a line-out. Contesting means you have to pick someone up. He has to be lifted by someone else. It will take adjustment. Is that going to put less pressure on the hookers? Your plans can change five metres from your goal line.”

Forwards will also get the hurry-up and now have 30 seconds to set the line-out and scrum in motion. With scrums already no longer an option when a free kick is awarded, teams who have an aversion to the set piece could deliberately waste time as a means of avoiding it.

The Springboks have one of the game’s most destructive scrums and some might argue the laws are increasingly framed to emasculate teams who display grunt in the set piece.

While acknowledging there will be fewer scrums, Erasmus seems satisfied there will be enough to make a mark.

“We just have to be the first team that adapts the best,” said the coach. “We’ve been working hard with Jaco Peyper [refereeing consultant]. We are on top of it. If you knock on it is still a scrum. I can see where they are heading with it. We support it because we have a say in those forums. Now it’s keep your mouth shut, accept it and adapt to it quickest.”

He said that World Rugby did not make law changes in isolation and that they are arrived at through a collective. “We have someone representing us at high-performance level, we give input so it is not a one-sided decision-making process. Coaches, high-performance managers and referees have an opportunity to give input.”

Other tweaks to the laws are aimed at potentially lessening the effect of red cards in matches.

Red cards can potentially carry a lighter sanction if the infraction is not deemed too serious. A bunker review system will be in place to determine whether the team of the offending will be a man short for 20 minutes, at which point a replacement player can be summoned, or for the remainder of the game.

Punishment therefore is player based and not a punitive burden on the team for the duration of the game. But serious acts of foul play will still be met with a straight red card, which means the team will be one player down for the rest of the match.