Rugby Union: Catching on fast to 'use it or lose it' - Steve Bale examines a changing game as the home season gets under way officially today

IT IS a truism of these changing rugby union times that, with the start of each new season, the old game will never be the same again. But the adage has never been more fitting than now; the World Cup and creeping professionalism may have had their profound impact, but this time it is the very laws of rugby that have been revolutionised.

This is not too strong an expression because, although the game looks much the same, it has been subject to one of the biggest legislative changes in its history - and the intention is no less than to revolutionise the way players play. But in so doing its top end has ceased to be the players' game of fond remembrance and become one aimed at being 'attractive' and so attracting spectators and corporations, thereby turning rugby union into a global game.

So in greeting the new season, which has its official kick-off today, we are also greeting the new legislation, which has been in force in the southern hemisphere since June. Hindsight suggests that Ireland, Scotland and England B would have done better to agree to play under them when they toured - and lost - Down Under; they would have been under no greater disadvantage than their hosts and would be at a clear advantage now.

But as it is, the season opens with domestic rugby three months off the pace, which as usual has been set in the southern hemisphere. As of today, it is adaptability and speed of thought as much as of deed that will determine who prospers. Hence, the intensity of Stuart Barnes's frustration that his calf injury will deprive him of any opportunity to play in company with his Bath team-mates before the league programme, which does not open until 19 September.

Lest anyone has yet to appreciate the obvious, the model to imitate is Australia. The Wallaby coach, Bob Dwyer, was dragged kicking and screaming into the new era, but even so his team - as superbly adaptable as they are skilful - have subsequently beaten New Zealand and South Africa with the felicitous reaffirmation of their world-champion status.

There is no longer any fatuous talk in the Republic that the Springboks are the real world champions, and thank goodness for that. Joy of joys, the Wallabies will soon be with us again and even without their retired captain, Nick Farr-Jones, their progress through Ireland and Wales will be a delight. And if the 'Boks, in France and then on to England under Twickenham's spanking new east stand, will be less delightful, they have novelty value and so will be no less interesting.

The rest of us will soon learn what both sets of tourists learned some time ago. Most obviously, the try is now worth five points, giving a further incentive not simply for try-scoring but also for penalty-conceding (on the basis that two three-point penalties are worth less than a converted try). A metre's gap between teams in the line-out and the restriction of the jumpers to using their inside arm or two hands to take the ball place a welcome and overdue premium on jumping and catching skills.

But it is the new tackle laws that have created controversy which will continue all the way to the International Board's annual meeting next spring, when it and the line-out changes will be reviewed. There is no problem with the insistence that after a tackle the next player must be on his feet when playing the ball, which in any case is permanent and not experimental.

But the law, please God temporary, that if the ball becomes unplayable in a maul the side who created the maul lose the ensuing scrum feed has been criticised all round the rugby world as a typical product of the fevered imagination of a lawmaker who had not taken the trouble to consult coaches and players. Dwyer likened it to a nightmare from which everyone would wake up when the one-year trial ended and his attitude has not mellowed even as referees have revealed their determination to prevent sides illegally halting mauls.

The performance of the New Zealander, David Bishop, in last month's South Africa-Australia Test was a perfect case in point. But winning experience has left Dwyer as unimpressed as he ever was. 'It does not allow teams that are superior to control the game properly,' he said after his Wallabies had won by a distance in Cape Town. 'It's a very bad law which makes spoiling an art form.'

Which only goes to show that good players assisted by a good coach can make good use of even the worst law. 'Use it or lose it' has become the catchphrase and if in the new season this means a reduction in the efficacy of brute force it will be no bad thing for those who watch.

On the other hand, the idea that rugby is a game for all shapes and sizes has become as outdated as the four-point try, and rugby - the rugby most people were happy to be brought up with - is the poorer for it. In fact it has more or less ceased to exist.

But then this is a course rugby, or at least those who run the game (as opposed to its leading practitioners), has consciously trodden. After its World Cup of 1991, in 1992 it has never had a higher profile and even in recessionary times enough companies like its wholesome image to want to invest in it.

To make the point, this week there is hardly a day without a sponsorship or marketing announcement of some sort in England and Wales. We have to accept that rugby could no longer flourish without corporate money but that does not mean we have to like it. The 1992-93 season starts today and no wonder the class of '92-3, who devote their non-working waking hours to the quest for excellence, want a cut; one day, not just the Australians will get it.

LEADING FIXTURES 1992-93

7 October: Wales XV v Italy (Cardiff)

17: England v Canada (Wembley); France v South Africa (Lyon)

24 Oct: France v South Africa (Paris)

31: France v South Africa (Paris); Ireland v Australia (Dublin)

14 November: England v South Africa (Twickenham)

21: Wales v Australia (Cardiff)

28: Barbarians v Australia (Twickenham)

8 December: Oxford University v Cambridge University (Twickenham)

16 January: England v France (Twicken ham); Scotland v Ireland (Edinburgh)

6 February: France v Scotland (Paris); Wales v England (Cardiff)

20: Ireland v France (Dublin); Scotland v Wales (Edinburgh)

6 March: England v Scotland (Twickenham); Wales v Ireland (Cardiff)

20: France v Wales (Paris); Ireland v Eng land (Dublin)

16-18 April: World Sevens (Edinburgh)

(Photograph omitted)