Two more ELVs for Tri Nations

The Tri-Nations will be played under the same set of laws as the Super14 – with the addition of two that were not part of the competition.

Two new ELV’s will apply for the Tri-Nations rugby competition, Sanzar has announced on Monday.

The pulling down of the maul will be allowed and the teams no longer have to match numbers in the lineouts.

These two new ELV’s, plus the full set of Experimental Law Variations used in the Super 14 will be in place for the Tri-Nations competition between South Africa, New Zealand and Australia.

“Sanzar has underlined its commitment to the Experimental Law Variations (ELVs) process by agreeing on special Tri-Nations ELVs to showcase the best of rugby’s new laws.

“The competition will be played under the laws that applied in the Super 14 competition, with the addition of two of the ELVs that will be going into global use when the new laws are trialed worldwide from August 1.

“These two new laws for the Tri-Nations will permit the pulling down of the maul and remove the requirement that teams match numbers at the lineout.

“We believe the laws we will play in the nine matches of the Tri-Nations will provide a rigorous examination of the most fundamental of the ELVs, said Jonathan Stones, CEO of SA Rugby.

“We discussed a range of laws options from playing under the old laws, (as they will apply in our June tour programmes) to the ‘new’ ELVs that will apply worldwide from August 1.

“We could not immediately agree on which set to apply as all of them had their merits within the complex laws’ schedule that has been a product of the ELVs process in the southern hemisphere.

However the solution we agreed on allows our players to approach the competition with the confidence of having played a full Super 14 season under these laws while adding in two that are straightforward, clear-cut and leave no room for the nuances of interpretation.”