The IRB Guide toExperimental Law Variations
The IRB has announced that ELV’s will become effective globally on August 1st, 2008. The following are the specific ELV’s:
Law 6 - Match Officials
1. Assistant referees are able to assist the referee in any way that the referee requires.
Law 17 - Maul
2. Remove reference to head and shoulders not being lower than hips.
3. Players are able to defend a maul by pulling it down.
Law 19 - Touch and Lineout
4. If a team puts the ball back into its own 22 and the ball is subsequently kicked directly into touch, there is no gain in ground.
5. A quick throw in may be thrown in straight or towards the throwing team’s own goal line.
6. There is no restriction on the number of players from either team who can participate in the lineout.
7. The receiver at the lineout must be 2 metres away from the lineout.
8. The player who is in opposition to the player throwing in the ball must stand in the area between the 5-metre line and the touch line but must be 2 metres away from the 5-metre line.
9. Lineout players may pre-grip a jumper before the ball is thrown in.
10. The lifting of lineout players is permitted.
Law 20 - Scrum
11. Introduction of an offside line 5 meters behind the hindmost feet of the scrum.
12. Identification of scrum half offside lines.
Law 22 - Corner Posts
13. The corner posts are no longer considered to be touch-in-goal except when the ball is grounded against the post.
The IRB is developing a three pronged ELV educational promotion and the basic development & distribution headlines are:
ELV Guide
May 22- English version in PDF circulated to Union CEO’s/ Secretary’s/ IRB licensed Trainers & Educators and Union Coaching & Refereeing contacts
French, Spanish, Italian, Chinese, Japanese & Russian ELV guides distributed electronically on or before June 6.
The guide has also been uploaded to the IRB Training extranet and website
http://www.irb.com/mm/Document/NewsMedia/0/IRBELVGuideENFINAL_5097.pdf
ELV DVD
Total Rugby produce English version by May 28
Duplication of 18000 English copies delivered to Dublin by June 12
English copies distributed by UPS to English speaking Unions French, Spanish, Italian, Chinese, Japanese & Russian versions produced on June 3
Duplication of 12000 language versions delivered to Dublin by June 19
Language versions distributed by UPS to relevant Unions
ELV WEBSITE http://www.irb.com/ELVs/
English site live by 6th June
French, Spanish, Italian, Chinese, Japanese & Russian versions of elv site live by 17th June
The Referee and Laws Committee has consulted with the IRB and submits the following Clarifications:
Pulling Down a Maul
The explanitory notes refer to pulling down an opposing player. The actual wording of the Law simply refers to pulling down a player in the maul. While most of the time a player trying to pull down a maul will do so by grasping an opponent, it is legal to pull down a teammate who is part of the maul.
I cannot emphasize enough that the maul can only be pulled down legally by grasping a player’s torso (shoulders to hips). Any taking out of legs is still illegal and dangerous. The referee must be aware of how the maul is taken down.
Safety of players is one of the major concerns of the IRB. The IRB has undertaken injury surveillance in NZ, Australia and South Africa. The IRB has taken advice from a risk management consultant. The results were such that the risk of injury as a result of the introduction of the ELVs was not increased. This injury surveillance continues. In four years of experimentation at the Cambridge Laws Laboratory under the auspices of the RFU there were no injuries as a result of the pulling down of the maul. The Law was framed around their experiences.
Quick Throw-ins
Although the Law is not clearly worded, the throw-in must reach the five-meter line before being played, regardless of the direction it is thrown. This means that a player cannot throw the ball to a teammate who is standing five meters back, but only one meter from touch.
USA Rugby has adopted a policy that all competitions begun before August 1st will be played under existing Law; this includes the National Club Sevens Championships. At the request of USA Rugby’s Seven’s coach, Al Caravelli, the National Men’s All-Stars 7’s Championship will be played under the ELV’s
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