Michael Lynagh puts brakes on plans to speed up rugby

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13 April 2012

Michael Lynagh is urging rugby chiefs to vote against a bid today to introduce radical law changes to the game. The World Cup winning fly-half fears if some of the proposals are implemented then rugby union will become so fast that the skill levels will suffer.

The moves, which are being discussed by the International Rugby Board in London today, are driven by the South Hemisphere nations - Lynagh's own Australian RFU in particular.

Rugby union is enjoying huge success in Europe but that is not the case in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa where crowds at the Super 14 tournament and the stagnating Tri-Nations competition are declining.

The power of the European economies and the excellence of the Heineken Cup, French Top-14 club competition and the Guinness Premiership is seeing top All Blacks, Wallabies and Springboks turn their back on their own domestic rugby and head north.

In a bid to reverse this player drain and try to take some of the publicity away from rugby league - a much bigger sport than union in Australia - a raft of Experimental Law Variations have been trialled in Super 14 and competitions below that level.

As a result, those ELVs are now going before the IRB meeting and with opponents needing 75 per-cent support from member countries to block their introductions, there are genuine fears that the nature of the sport will be changed.

That is why greats of the game such as Lynagh, who has been based in London for 12 years, are prepared to speak out against their own Unions. The 44-year-old said: "I've been watching a lot of Super 14 matches and do not believe the rugby being delivered under the ELV's is that attractive. In fact, after watching two games in succession recently it was dull.

"I then watched London Wasps versus Bath in the Premiership and at the end of that match was left thinking there is nothing wrong with the game being played over here, when teams have ambition and skill."

"The major changes being proposed include some that are deserving of support and I include the move to stop players being able to kick to touch if the ball is passed back to them inside the 22. Under the change, that player would have to run the ball out of defence."

The use of free-kicks for all but three offences, which would remain penalties, highlights the theme of these changes - using free-kicks to speed up the sport.

It smacks of taking the sport closer to that of rugby league - a development that worries Lynagh.

He said: "In recent Super 14 games the skill level has been worryingly low because of the fatigue factor created by speeding up play so much.

"The quantity of play is there, but not the quality and I don't want rugby turned into a mess. Yes, some of the laws are worth adopting. However, I see no merit in wholesale changes because the game is working well here in Europe."

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