Best article on the ELV's - finally a Journalist who has actually assessed the impact of the ELV's and acurately reported what they have done to the game...which is essentially ruin it - it is no longer rugby but some bastardised version of AFL and NRL...

In this case - thank god for the NH...

Jimmy (#17), if your so bored with Super 14 rugby then what are you doing on a southern hemisphere website called "Rugbyheaven" which, by the way, features a lot of stories of the main provincial SH competition called "The Super 14?" Just an observation.

I agree with Jimmy however in that an expanded Super rugby competition will only add to the over kill of rugby we now have. No wonder people like Jimmy are bored with it, it is on for 10 out of 12 months of the year nearly. The best football was when the focus of provincial comps was restricted to the internal ones (NPC & Currie Cup) and then the best of those compettitions played off in the Super 10. And in there provincial forms. It's a pitty we can't get back to that because that is when support for provincial rugby was strongest.

It is however interesting that S. Africa still manage to get 40-50,000 along to their Currie Cup games while we struggle to get 10 to the Cake Tin for Air NZ cup. It seems the South African's arent sick of rugby overload.

Who cares! I'm bored with Super rugby. The only thing worse than the current Super rugby competition is the thought of an expanded Super rugby competition. What we need to do, regardless of whether it's ELVs or old rules, is hold on to our star players. That's what brings the crowds through the turnstiles eg Jerry Collins, Carl Hayman, Dan Carter etc. We need to look after our players and keep them here.

Well doneNH.You don`t have to try something just to prove what was already known,namely that ELV don`t work.The SH tried them and look what it has contributed to the quality of and spectator interest in rugby?????? It is time for Mr.Tew to stop throwing his toys out of the cot because the SH didn`t get its way,stop bagging referees and try,I say try to concentrate on the job he is paid to do and that is to stop the spectator turn off and try to make the World cup 2011 as good as it can be despite already going to incur a loss of at least $30million.

Couldn't agree with Regan (#6) more, fix rugby by bringing back rucking.

It's that simple. The idea of all these free-kick rules and collapsing mauls is supposedly to free the ball up, but no one understand them. Get rid of all these round the ruck rules and replace it with the timeless rule which everyone understood - if your getting raked, your on the wrong side of the ruck!

Let the men who dwell in the dark places of rugby union sort this out. (The alternative is you get tackled, you get up and roll the ball between your legs..). Rucking and mauling is what distinguished rugby union from rugby league. Bring them both back!

cheers

The only problem with the elvs is the attitude of gutless coaches who lack the spine to run with them. It is their negative and frightened approach to the game that has resulted in the kick fest. Who needs structure when we can have an exciting, exhilarating game with tries galore. If people want structure then watch the northern game with their endless penalties and drop goal attempts. I want to see tries and so too might does the people who pay the bills and without whom there would be no game.

Mancini, #3, you rock!

of what i've seen, i'm quite for a few of the elvs, but would prefer to get rid of the sanctions. i read something from another reporter on another site suggesting removing the ability to kick for goal from certain penalties, such as technical infringements at scrums and rucks, but allow the ability to plug it into the corner and have the lineout. the elvs are a poor solution for effectively reducing the number of attacking options to a scrum or a tap. the fear of losing 40 metres territory is not as great as before.

If i wanted to watch league, id watch league. I hate all the free kicks, scrapping that would be great. I really enjoyed the rugby played during the november tour last year, which i think was played essentially with the rules that are to be accepted.

Really, we in the south should never have used the "sanctioned" (free kicks + maul collapsing) rules, as the north never seemed interested in trialing them, we gambled it would make the game awesome but it failed badly. Its a shame it seems we will continue with them until the end of the year.

Totally agree with the points raised in your article - well done. Have been a rugby fan for years and recently been very appreciative of the hard grind that the Northern Hemisphere teams appear to bring to their games. They are not at all boring, as the crowds and TV numbers would prove over there. We seem to want to please the public by 'watering down' the game here and it is severely "stat" driven eg number of phases, kicks in play, bonus points for tries etc. The ELV's suit the NZ/Aussie style of play but for me, as a rugby head, the IRB's decision in the last few days is a positive move. Apart from rucking which should be reinstated, the latest decision by the IRB should define the way we ALL should be playing. That would enable a more contestable approach from forwards at the breakdown and emphasise the need for a reliable goal kicker to win matches. Our apparent keenness to adopt all the ELV's has resulted in a strange union/league style hybrid game and this is not what I pay money to see. I don't care about the number of points scored so long as both teams go at each other for 80 minutes and endeavour to win. Our rugby world is closing around us, kids are experiencing different varieties of sports choices now. In my own opinion, rugby should accept it may no longer hold the #1 spot and just get back to the basics. Leave the fancy amendments out with regards the rules, go out of the cities once in a while and play in the provinces and get the groundswell back into being positive about NZ rugby. I believe that instead of moaning about the game at Monday morning tea breaks I (hopefully) would instead be praising the game and how it was played. Positivity towards rugby would capture the NZ public again - and if the NZRU went back to its core base of actual rugby fans and got their buy in then the non rugby fan will want to follow as everyone responds to positivity. Just Keep It Simple man!

I think in many cases it is not the answer itself, but the reasoning of the NH pundits that is questionable. E.g. the whole 'depowering of the scrum' myth that is trotted out again and again (despite the SH countries matching or winning the scrum contest each november). e.g. The idea that a "game for all shapes and sizes" means that the rules must ensure fat unfit blobs are able to play at the top professional level. e.g. the idea voiced that the 5m back law makes it easier for teams to defend against the attack (if so why weren't they doing it before?) The mad 'sky is falling' approach to the ELVs has made the whole experiment into a north vs south battle when it didn't need to be. The fact that they may arguably be right about some of the rules doesn't excuse the spurious reasoning... a broken clock is right twice a day!