ELVs face one final talkfest

BY MARC HINTON

The International Rugby Board has one last chance to sell its controversial Experimental Law Variations at a global gathering in London at the end of this month as the May deadline looms.

The IRB will convene a conference of 70 key stakeholders in London when the ELVs, which have been largely decried in the north, will be given the fine-tooth comb treatment.

But with the decisive May vote looming for the IRB's council and the vibe from the northern hemisphere largely negative on the law variations, even the IRB is admitting prospects aren't exactly encouraging.

"They will be debated in much detail over two days," said IRB chief executive of the London conference on the ELVs. "There will be presentations, we'll look at videos of matches, all the stats and everyone will get the chance to look at all the ELVs and take their thoughts away and discuss them within their unions.

"What will happen, I don't know," shrugged Miller. "We were asked after the 2003 World Cup to look at areas of the game, and put the process in place and have extended trials which we've done.

"It will be up to the council to decide if any change is needed. Whether change comes in or not to me is immaterial. The fact is we've looked at the areas of the game, put the processes in place, and trialled them. Then it's up to the council to decide."

Miller conceded the law variations had become an "emotive" subject but through taking a scientific approach to data and analysis, the IRB had hoped to "take the politics" out of the decision.

Also going before the vote this year will be the decision on whether to readmit rugby to the Olympics, a situation the game's global chiefs are optimistic about.

The IRB hosted two Olympic delegates at the recent World Cup sevens in Dubai, with Miller reporting that the duo were "very impressed" with what they saw.

And, in a perverse sort of way, Gordon Tietjens' New Zealand side, eliminated in a round of shock quarterfinal results, may also have played their part in gaining entry to the Olympic movement.

"One of the things we've been saying is that rugby sevens gives an opportunity for nations who don't normally win medals at the Olympics to win medals. Quarterfinal day proved that exactly in the men's tournament. There were four upsets in four matches, and in the semis we had four teams from four continents that no one expected to be there.

"That was great news. Also having the women's tournament integrated with the men's worked well. The IOC delegates and a lot of rugby people were pleasantly surprised with the quality of the women's game."

Miller said feedback from the IOC had been positive, but it was hard to say at this stage which way the vote would go.

The IRB will make its final presentation to the IOC executive board in June and the final decision on the two new sports to be included at the 2016 Olympics will be made in Copenhagen in October. Miller was unsure whether all seven sports would be put forward to the final vote, or a short-list would be recommended.

The sticky situation of Argentina also drew an interesting response from the international body's boss, with Miller admitting money lay at the heart of the issue as much as the availability of the Europe-based Pumas.

Miller said the IRB had already put a lot of resources into Argentina, funding national academies and development programmes, and also working closely with the national union.

They also paid for a 64-page feasibility study looking into the potential of Argentina being involved in both of Sanzar's main competition. The document was recently completed and it is hoped can be used as a launching pad for bringing Argentina into alignment with the other leading southern hemisphere unions.

"At the end of the day it's going to come down to money, and the question is who foots the bill, particularly in the short-term before everything takes off and begins to pay for itself," said Miller.

He also admitted the precedent set by the Five Nations admitting Italy into an expanded Six Nations had limited validity. The five leading northern hemisphere unions all took an initial financial hit by including the Italians with the knowledge they were bringing serious potential to the table.

"This is slightly different than Italy who were a) close to the other five nations and b)  were a huge financial market," said Miller. "Argentina is a long way away and their financial market isn't as good as Italy's.

"Everyone will need to put something in to try to make it work, but where there's will there's a way."

Meanwhile, Miller has said he believes a fully "integrated" international season is "very close".

With agreement having been reached with the clubs in England and France to finish their seasons by the end of May, the June window has been protected.

The IRB is also getting close to finalising a proposal that would formalise the June tests, making them "more meaningful".

"We've got some very interesting suggestions we'll be looking at over the next couple of weeks," added Miller.

He said it was now evident the concept of a "global" season was unworkable. "That's why we've started talking about an integrated season where you interlock the two seasons. I think we're getting very close to seeing something which will work very well for the next 10 years."

 

- © Fairfax NZ News