"Guys are kicking the ball 60m these days because the ball has improved so much." THIS QUOTE FROM HENDRY SAYS IT ALL, let me tink for a second here....ok done,I watched all the super14 games and Tri-Nations games and I can only recall one player doing that, so why pick on Frans Steyn , so that you guys can play hands in in our half at will???? I got a better idear make a penalty worth five points, then the penalties will dry up, problem solved....suck it up Hendry!

These are good ideas. If they can not be inforced at international level then why can't we show the world in our provincal comp. I currently live overseas and have watched some npc games on TV with people I watched the Tri Nations with - they said that the provincal comp in Nz was alot more exciting to watch. Maybe we need to get more people to our local games ? lets try these changes and hope for a spectacular display of running rugby.

To GeminICT people don't think that there will be more tries, they think it will stop teams from winning games but scoring less tries than there opposition (South Africa, England). It is a GOOD idea.

Denis, firstly you have got it wrong about the scrum....it is very important, even tho alot of the time the possession of the ball is secure, its the quality of the ball that counts. If a scrum is going backwards then the number 8 will usually have to take the ball off the back of the scrum and create a ruck to reset possession. If the scrum is going forwards then this makes a huge difference with what move the backs run and creates alot more space and time for the backs. I also agree with Phil #121, however i would take the offside line only 2m behind the ruck. This would allow the forwards to use the pick and go and one off runners to get over the advantage line and create better quality ball for the backs. It would also make it much harder to defend these inside channels. If teams had to commit more numbers into defending these channels it would create more space and time for the backs. If you look at the current ruck laws there are so many players infringing around the sides of the ruck. Noone actually goes behind the last persons foot which kills the space and time for the backs and makes it very hard for forwards to get good quality ball and to get over the advantage line. The lottery at the break down and the rushing defences then causes teams to kick the ball because there is no real adavantage to be playing ball in hand rugby.

Don't need to change the points for drop goals. Simply make it that if you miss the drop kick (and it goes dead), play restarts from where the kick was taken, just like if a player kicks for touch and the ball goes dead.

It's not that 3 points is too much for a drop kick, it's that there's no downside to missing as the other team has to restart from the 22. Restarting from where the kick was taken will make teams think twice about kicking from behind halfway.

How many tight heads do you see in a match.All the concentration on the scrums when the outcome is virtually sealed is out of proportion in the time spent as in resetting scrums. If the ball is hooked then don't reset treat the scrum as a ruck. Has anyone counted the number of times a ref blows the whistle during an average match.There is IMHO far too much kicking in Rugby and the challenge for rule makers is to curb that. Graham Henry's idea that if the ball is caught from a kick then it is automatically a mark is a very good idea and I suggest the throw in from the lineout if the ball is kicked into touch be from the mark taking team. What was wrong with the rules in the past where you had to release the ball when tackled and rucking was the norm?

Why oh why do so many people believe that reducing the points scored from penalties and drop goal will increase the amount of tries being scored??

I think the points system should be revised. Why in the first place did the rugby authorities increase the try from three point to four and then eventually five points? I think the points system should be two points for a penalty and one point for a drop. A try should remain on five points. The reason I say one point for a drop it will ensure that a drop goal is used only when there is an impasse in the game and a decider is required. This system will really up the game in terms of speed and runnung rugby. I also think that all defensive lines should be five metres behind the last feet of a rack and maul or scrum. This gives the teams attacking space and spectator value.

Supporter # 110 - Not sure which satdiums you saw in South Africa, but the attendance of the Tri Nations games in SA this year was way down on the last few years...ironically, they are blaming this on a proper kicking sport, soccer - the Confederations Cup!!! However, I have to agree with the rucking comment...bring that back and you won't have people lying over the ball slowing it down any more. That may even give people a chance to run with the ball.

When Richard Webb Ellis picked up the round ball and ran with it many moons ago, he was sick of kicking. Thats why he invented rugby. If you wnat an oval ball kicking game, wait until the AFL season next year. Rugby was invented to be a running game. Even my South African wife lamented the wasting of wings like Brian Habana because of the boring kicking game, although gloated over their deserved Tri Nations victory. Penalties to 2 points and drop goals to one point. Game breakers, not game winners.

Henry is a clown of note.

Who made him spokesmen of the game? What gives him the right to call rugby boring? How boring was it to watch the AB's knock on 20 + times per match? How boring was their school boy line out?

Its the defensive patterns that have become better and what can you do about that? Fully agree that NZ somehow think they have the right to call the world to make their rugby dominant, despite the fact that they have only one world cup. It's getting a bit sad when a great rugby nation like NZ have a clown like Henry be their spokesman while not being able to back it up on the field.

I have frequented this site regularly and have reached the conclusion that there is a rift between the NZRU and the NZ supporters. The reason he mouths off like this is because he knows he has the NZRU backing despite everything. If being hit 3-0 by your old foe can't wake them up, nothing will. So much for democracy, get rid of him.