Sam Cane (left) and Dane Coles will again provide some star power to Super Rugby Aotearoa.
OPINION: Super Rugby Aotearoa begins with the Highlanders hosting the Crusaders in Dunedin on Friday night. There will be plenty to discuss, and debate, over the coming months. Stuff rugby writers Richard Knowler, Robert Van Royen and Marc Hinton give their views on 10 talking points.
1 The new goal-line drop-out rule will mean fewer 5m scrums which, for obvious reasons, will annoy many forwards. Will the game be better or worse for this law variation?
Richard Knowler: Better. The game must do everything it can to convert the non-believers. Lots of scrums, usually preceded by collapses and re-sets on the tryline, isn’t a good look. Something has to change.
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Law innovations to be trialled in Sky Super Rugby Aotearoa were a continuation of exploring ways to speed up the game.
New Zealand Rugby s (NZR) Head of High Performance Mike Anthony said speeding up the game had been one of the objectives behind the initiatives.
Statistics from Australia s Super Rugby AU competition last year where the goal line drop-out featured was that there was on average 78 seconds difference between the time taken for a five-metre scrum versus the time taken for a goal line drop-out.
Statistics from Super Rugby AU showed on average it took 1min 52sec to take a five-metre scrum with defensive teams regularly taking longer to prepare. By comparison, a goal-line dropout took about 30 seconds on average.
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WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) Rule changes designed to speed up the game and keep the ball in play will be introduced in Super Rugby tournaments in Australia and New Zealand this season as.