Tew denies 'southern scheme'
New Zealand Rugby Union boss, Steve Tew has rubbished claims that the SANZAR nations have campaigned for the Experimental Law Variations'(ELVs) introduction, to negate traditional forward strength.
England, Ireland and Wales have criticised the International Rugby Board’s recommendation that 10 of its ELVs be brought into official law – which the governing body will vote on in May.
Tew stressed that the ELVs was not a SANZAR initiative and he believes the way in which the laws were introduced is at fault.
“We made it really clear from the out-set, this is one of the things that has distorted the process, that the ELVs were never a SANZAR initiative,” he told the AAP.
“We should have involved the Six Nations, while Scotland were involved and France, but the other four have hardly got involved in this process at all; because of their own choice.
“But it has meant they have been very reluctant to take our experience worth listening to. What is important is that we go forward from here doing things together in the future.”
Tew explained that the IRB approached the global rugby brainstrust about the proposed law changes but it was the southern hemisphere nations, Australia and New Zealand in particular, who wanted to trial the laws.
This, he said, does not mean that it was a southern hemisphere initiative.
“You have to go back to the conference on the game in Auckland after Rugby World Cup 2003, I think in January 2004, where we gathered together all the brains of coaching and playing in world rugby and said: ‘Righto, what is good about the law, what needs to be fixed?’
“And there were three or four key things that the IRB were asked to focus on. They formed a laws advisory group which had a very significant group of people on it, including our own Graham Mourie. They came up with a raft of ideas that were then trialled at Stellenbosch.
“Then those trials were then analysed and refined and put to the IRB to find homes for trials. All that happened was that Australia and New Zealand, in particular, were willing to trial them in our competitions because we saw the need to grow some of the aspects of the game.
“For some reason, that all of a sudden became a southern hemisphere initiative which was unfortunately not the case.”
One of the ELVs which has been abandoned following the two-day IRB summit, is allowing defending sides to pull down attacking mauls.
However, Tew said that this ELV was never aimed at negating forward-based play.
“The maul has never gone away; we never made the maul illegal,” Tew explained.
“The critical thing here is not that the north want the maul because it is their strength.
“We all to want to find ways to pour more and more players into a commitment so we have more space on the paddock. And if no-one is going to the maul, which is what has been happening, then we are obviously not creating space.”
