Europe puts IRB 'no penalties' rule into deep freeze

(GETTY IMAGES)

The most controversial of the "experimental law variations" currently on trial in the southern hemisphere's Tri-Nations tournament – the abolition of penalties in favour of free-kicks for all offences apart from offside – will not feature in the forthcoming European club season, which begins in France next week. Efforts by the International Rugby Board to identify a "guinea pig" competition have proved fruitless, and there is no appetite among the most top-flight teams in the British Isles to help the governing body find one.

Thanks largely to English opposition, the IRB's move to impose free-kick frenzy on the Premiership and Heineken Cup tournaments fell at a tense, politically charged meeting last spring. The board did, however, announce plans to introduce the new "sanctions" law in another professional competition: either the second-tier European Challenge Cup, or the EDF Energy Cup. Both of these options appear to be non-starters.

Mark McCafferty, the chief executive of Premier Rugby, the English clubs' umbrella organisation, said yesterday there was "nothing on the horizon" in terms of trialling the free-kick law in any professional competition, adding: "It's very hard to see how this can be introduced so close to the start of the season, and anyway, we feel it is unreasonable to expect players and coaches to go in and out of different laws on a weekly basis. It's difficult, and potentially dangerous."

All this leaves the IRB in the uncomfortable position of presiding over a game with two distinct sets of laws. The more enthusiastic ELV supporters, most of them in Australia, are determined to see the free-kick change applied across the sport, but their chances are evaporating fast. The November internationals will be played under European laws, and it is all but certain that next summer's British and Irish Lions tour of South Africa will go ahead on the same basis.

To add to the IRB's problems, there may be a row over one law patently in need of change: the regulation providing for uncontested scrums in the event of injuries, which was brought in for safety reasons but is roundly abused by teams finding themselves under pressure at the set-piece. The French have announced their intention to reintroduce a rule under which a side causing uncontested scrums forfeits a player, but the board, which banned the move two years ago, has yet to agree.

"We're not following the French on this occasion," said McCafferty, "but we're very supportive of their stand. This area needs tightening up." Yes, and soon. Last year's Premiership final at Twickenham was disfigured by a move to uncontested scrums, after which Marcelo Loffreda, the Leicester coach, said: "The rules on this must change. It is a more important change than any of the ELVs the IRB is seeking to impose."

Frank Hadden, the Scotland coach, has strengthened his full-time support staff by recruiting Mike Brewer, the New Zealander who played for the All Blacks in the 1995 World Cup final, as his forwards specialist and Graham Steadman, the former Great Britain rugby league international, as defence strategist. Brewer, who also captained his country, replaces George Graham, while Steadman comes in for Alan Tait.

In June, Hadden was accompanied on the two-Test trip to Argentina by Andy Robinson, once the head coach of England, and Sean Lineen. However, both men wished to concentrate on their work with Scotland's major professional sides, Edinburgh and Glasgow.