Bates lays down the new law
Tue, 15 Jul 2008 19:09
Newcastle director of rugby, Steve Bates, briefed his Falcons players on Tuesday on the new law changes which will come in to effect this coming season.
Bates delivered a presentation to the squad at Kingston Park outlining the new laws, stating: "There are some pretty fundamental changes coming in to force for this season.
"The slightly confusing aspect at the moment is that some competitions around the world are using different laws to others, so the presentation was just outlining exactly which changes do and don't affect us in the Guinness Premiership, EDF Energy Cup and European Challenge Cup competitions.
"We will delve much deeper in to the detail as we continue through the summer, but I felt it important to get this initial presentation done early, just to have it clear in the players' minds and to get them thinking about how the new laws will affect their role in the game."
New laws include scrum defences having to stand five metres back, the ability to pull down the maul and to choose any number of line-out defenders, among others.
"The line out will be a key area with defences able to pull down the driving maul, also not having to number up, and these are both areas that Stuart Grimes, myself and Alan Tait are discussing," said Bates.
"All 12 Guinness Premiership directors of rugby have already been down to Twickenham to see presentations, and discuss the new laws with the RFU and the referees.
"We are in the advantageous position of playing our opening pre-season game very early this year when we meet Western Force on August 8, and that will allow us plenty of time between then and the start of the season to assess how our approach is working, to really maximise the benefit of these law changes.
"The Super 14 has been playing under the experimental law variations, some of which have been taken up in to the new laws we will be playing, and so it will also be very interesting to sit down with the Western Force coaches in the week we play them to get their feedback as we continue our preparations."
With thanks to guinnesspremiership.com
