Introducing the experimental laws this year for the Mitre 10 Cup has been a bit of a mixed bag and it has taken teams a while to get the hang of them.
It is interesting that some unions opted not to use the experimental laws in their club competitions, which probably hasn't helped their provincial teams in adjusting to them from the outset.
I do like the idea of players holding their feet around the breakdown, although they get quite messy with the boot coming and kicking the ball. I don't think teams have quite grasped how to win that contact.
But if teams can actually bind and blow past the ball, which was part of rugby 20-30 years ago, they will get the benefits. It is a lost art. They have all become used to going in as individuals and, from my point of view, if there are any tweaks or changes to be made around that contact-breakdown area hen it would be that the boot must have a backward motion.
It's a ruck, and a rucking action has a backward motion. A kick of the ball is not acceptable; any forward motion of the foot is of negative intent, but the backward motion of the boot, so long as it is not near the head, it is completely legal. This is a step towards bringing back rucking; I would love to see that engaging, and with referees easing off, as they have a little bit with the scrum laws. I think that can only be positive for the game.
Some people have expressed concerns that the "fetchers" like Richie McCaw and David Pocock will be affected, but the changes don't take them out of the game. The brave old sevens of yesteryear would have broken fingers and crippled hands because they would be putting their hands on the ball; but if they were unlucky, they would cop the wrath of the boots of the bigger tight forwards who got there early enough.
And if you put your hands where they weren't supposed to be, and you grabbed the ball, you suffered the consequences. We're not talking broken necks, we're not talking high concussion levels, as the type of injuries suffered tended to be superficial, and part of the game of rugby, and I would love to see that contest come back in.
What we have seen is that the big, ball-carrying No. 6 has duplicated on both sides and the traditional No. 7 has been taken out of the game a little because the tackler has to now gain his feet and come back through the gate.
The one thing about the experimental laws that is glaringly obvious after watching a lot of games is that the person who takes the ball into contact, the person lying on the ground, is out of play; I don't think the referees have identified that a player lying on the ground is not dictating the ruck but is actually out of play.
Play is actually where the ball is. If you blow past the ball then the ruck is over and the ball is fair game for anyone, even if someone is still lying on the ground beside it trying to protect it. He is out of play.
That has been missed so many times and people have been penalised for it; referees haven't actually got the picture that if the player is lying flat, forget them. The players need to roll away and get out. If they continue to lie there, referees can penalise them; but if they are not doing anything just remember that the ball is in play, and it is open play.
That is the clear message that referees need to get their heads around.
One interesting comment that has been raised is that these laws will never be accepted by the rest of the world because they think that New Zealand are acting in their own best interests.
But New Zealand didn't ask for these experiments. They came from World Rugby and are being experimented with on their behalf. In actual fact, I think New Zealand would be better off without the experiments becoming law.
The way the experimental laws are framed they would be of more benefit to other countries. They would be more suited to the likes of England, France and the big players.
New Zealand have produced year after year after year, absolutely brilliant openside flankers like Richie McCaw, Michael Jones, Josh Kronfeld; there's a further list of 20-odd players behind them who never really got an opportunity. We produce those players and the laws, as they stand now, suit us right down to the ground.
But the reason we have been asked to test these laws is more because of the positive nature of the game. We will suffer like any other country, but it will take something away from us.
All in all, it has been positive. But there could be a few more tweaks to make it more positive.
I do like the fact the players are staying on their feet, I hate the pile-ups and I hate hands in the ruck because it has never been legal to put your hands in there or even lie on the ground and push the ball back; that's just not part of the game. I especially hate it when you have a big pile-up and all of a sudden the ball comes out and you think 'how the hell did that happen', knowing full well the ball had been filched by someone.
If you could clean that up it also makes it easier for the referees to police.
Of the other laws, I like the fact you can kick a ball out from a penalty after the half-time or full-time siren has gone and you can have the lineout to follow.
I think the scrums have been relatively cleaner, and allowing the ball to be played if the scrum has collapsed is a positive.
I do think with the referees being allowed to call "engage" at the scrum, the half-backs should be allowed to roll the ball under the prop's feet because there have been too many times when we have seen the ball sitting there and no-one can hook it.
With the referee having created the situation where all the pressure has come on and the power is going through, it becomes a disadvantage for the hooker of the team putting the ball in to have to lift his foot to strike. Unless that is going to change just allow the ball to go under their feet.
It is almost like the hooker having to hook the ball is a token gesture from yesteryear. Why does a hooker have to hook the ball: Why can't we just roll it straight back?
I don't agree with the points-scoring changes that are being trialled in the Heartland competition, by which tries are worth six points and all kicks are worth two. That's just someone being clever with a calculator. It hurts the game when you are constantly changing points for the sake of trying to manipulate an outcome.
Football's goals are worth one, and they always will be worth one. Why do we have to be so clever to change the value of points?
The game is not that broken that we need to look for too many solutions.