Super Rugby Pacific goalkickers will be on a shot clock this season and there will also be time limits on scrums and lineouts as the competition organisers seek to speed up the game.
Other law variations with an emphasis on fewer stoppages are in store for the competition which kicks off on February 24.
Sanzaar is hoping the days (or nights) of looking at the three on-field match officials staring at seemingly endless replays on a pitch-side screen are confined to the past, with the television match official given more “streamlined” duties, including deciding whether an incident of foul play could be upgraded from a yellow to red card only once the offender is off the field.
But the most obvious will be the time limits on conversions and penalties along with scrums, lineouts and rucks.
Referees will enforce 90-second time limits on conversions, 60 seconds for penalty kicks, 30 seconds for scrums and lineouts to be set, and five seconds for the ball to be used at rucks, while TMOs will only interrupt play for serious, clear and obvious incidents of foul play.
The vast majority of the variations have been used in other global competitions but this is the first time they will be used in Super Rugby.
The variations are:
• Time limits will be enforced for kicks at goal, lineouts, scrums and rucks.
• TMO interruptions will be restricted to serious clear and obvious dangerous play.
• Yellow card TMO reviews will take place after sanctioned players leave the field
• TMOs only ‘interrupt’ play to investigate serious, clear and obvious incidents of dangerous play missed by the match officials.
• Referees can use the TMO to make a yellow card decision, but any extended TMO video reviews will take place once the player has left the field, not before the yellow card is issued.
• The TMO will have eight minutes to either uphold a 10-minute yellow card decision or upgrade it to a 20-minute red card, in which case the player will not return to the field, but can still be replaced.
• Referees will now also have the power to issue a full red card for deliberate foul play, in which case the player will not return to the field and cannot be replaced.
New Zealand Rugby high performance manager Mike Anthony told media this morning that the variations had been worked on with national unions, match officials, Super Rugby Pacific coaches, and players’ associations since August last year.
“We wanted to make the game more attractive for fans and those involved in the game," Anthony said. "We’ve listened to feedback and knew that the stoppages and things like the TMO [involvements] were the sources of frustration.
“Throughout the process we didn’t want to compromise player welfare – we believe we’ve achieved that… and ultimately we feel we hopefully have something that is more entertaining.”
One of the biggest questions in World Cup year, however, is how these variations - particularly the time limits on the set pieces - will affect players moving from Super Rugby to Test rugby.
Will it take away from scrum and lineout quality in the Test arena?
The All Blacks' recent struggles to match the physicality of their Northern Hemisphere opponents suggests that Super Rugby is not ideal preparation for Test rugby and getting into a habit of rushing through scrums and lineouts may not help.
On the other hand, it may be beneficial in terms of potentially increasing the aerobic capacity of New Zealand's players, who traditionally prefer to play the game at pace.
When asked about potential positive spinoffs for the All Blacks in this of all years, Anthony replied: "Ideally we'd hope it sets our team up really well," he said.
"We have to get the balance right and that's the trade off for our competition - we always think about what that means for our players when they do transition to the international stage. Regardless, I think it's going to prepare our athletes well."
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