New laws put less focus on brawn, says Sir Ian McGeechan

Sir Ian McGeechan predicts the new law interpretations will change the shape of players by placing less emphasis on collisions.

The new directives to referees from the International Rugby Board, especially concerning the breakdown, have speeded up the game.

The recent Tri-Nations was played at breakneck pace while the opening two rounds of the Aviva Premiership have also seen plenty of attacking rugby.

Rugby's 'gym-monkey' culture has attracted plenty of criticism in the past but McGeechan, the decorated former Lions coach, believes the new approach will result in a reduced emphasis on brawn.

"The ball in play time will impact the way we view the skills we expect players to have," said Bath's performance director at the launch of www.rugbycoachingdrills.com.

"The power of the game will still be there. There will still be big hits and big impacts, but there will be a more fluid game around it. It will no longer be about impact for impact's sake. It will be about a dynamic impact to produce a dynamic game.

"I think we'll see a more aerobic game. The more skilful a team is, the more pressure you can put on opponents

"If you are playing quickly, you can't have front-five players near the contact area the whole time, so your front five have to be able to do other things as well. In terms of selection you might be looking at a slightly different type of front-five player.

"You want competence at the set-piece but the real bonuses are in other parts of the game. The figures show there are a third more rucks and phases under the current interpretations, so players have to have confidence to be involved in that type of game."

McGeechan also believes the requirement for officials to focus more on the defensive than attacking side is paying dividends.

"It's the way forward because players and coaches now know exactly what a referee is going to do and is looking for, so the game progresses in the best way," he said.

"This time last year the referee was refereeing the attacking sides and that's totally wrong.

"You referee the defensive side first and you give the attacking side every chance to play.

"There was an attempt to make every breakdown a 50-50 ball, but that meant if you had the ball you wouldn't play in your part of the field.

"Teams stopped playing and went for a kicking game. We're now seeing far more rugby because referees are refereeing defenders well.

"I think the game is in really good health and there's a bit of stability about it. It's almost where we want it to be."