SUPER-REF Nigel Owens says rugby’s new Laws are NOT working to improve the game.
The opening round of Six Nations games saw the introduction of hookers being ordered to use a “brake foot” to prevent all the pre-scrum weight going through their necks.
Some fans were also confused by the “goalline dropout” Law and the new 50-22 kicking rule that allows a team to win a line-out despite kicking on the bounce into touch from their own half.
But Owens, who hung up his whistle two years ago, said the evidence of last weekend was that none of the changes can be said to have succeeded.
Owens said: “The brake foot was brought in to get stability in the scrum and for safety, to help stop the hooker getting all that pressure of the entire pack on his head.
“At Murrayfield, though, Scotland versus England, it didn’t work. Stability was an issue from the very first scrum.
“It didn’t help the referee get stability at all so the referees will need to be stronger on it next weekend.
“The 50-22 was brought in to try to make sure the wingers and full-backs dropped into their own 22 to create more space across the field at the breakdown line and encourage teams to run rather than just kick back and forth.
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“But it hasn’t made much difference because we still see only one or two defenders at the breakdown and too many players in defence – you still don’t have the space.
“What we wanted to see was how France scored their try just after half-time against Italy, when there were six forwards from each side, the French driving them off the ball and space for a lovely try.
“But until you get players on their feet and sucking players into the ruck you’re not going to see the best you can get out of the 50-22.
“And the goal-line drop-out when you touch down inside your own in-goal area actually means you have to give the ball back to the team that has kicked beyond the goal line.
“I think we might see more kicking because the goal line drop out is more of a disadvantage to the defending team – we should go back to 22m drop-outs.
“It was designed to stop teams trying to bludgeon over the ball and force repeated 5m scrums but it hasn’t had any positive impact.”
Owens, speaking to SunSport in conjunction with William Hill, agreed with the decision by Kiwi whistler Ben O’Keefe to yellow card England hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie and award Scotland a match-changing penalty try.
He added: “That was a very straightforward decision to make. Cowan-Dickie’s actions were obvious – so penalty and 99.9 per cent of the time it’s a yellow card.
“The question mark is whether it should have been a penalty try.
“For me, Darcy Graham would have caught the ball and probably scored.
Cowan-Dickie is no longer part of the equation after committing the offence. Hence it’s a penalty try.”
Nigel Owens was speaking to The Sun in conjunction with William Hill.
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