'We can adapt': How law variations will affect the Brumbies' Super Rugby AU charge

Rugby Australia has introduced seven law variations and instructed referees to speed-up the game when a domestic competition is launched next month.

There are already the predictable murmurings of a potential merger before a ball has been kicked. The inevitable question about RA's ability to support four teams was bound to come up. If Australia is cut to three or four teams, which franchise dies? The ACT Brumbies? The Melbourne Rebels? A merger of the two?

NSW and Queensland are safe while the Western Force is financially viable thanks to billionaire Andrew "Twiggy" Forrest. But The idea of an ACT-Melbourne merger is becoming tired given it has been raised as an idea since 1996. It is, however, a very real possibility given Australian rugby's recent woes on and off the field. The only way to silence those conversations is to make rugby great again.

It's hoped the five-team season will be the baby steps Australian rugby needs to take to rebuild after a calamitous five-year period. The law changes are the first phase. An opportunity to make the game more attractive to spectators and faster for players, both parties frustrated by lost ball-in-play time over the years.

The challenge is making sure the game doesn't cross the line and, like some fear, become too much like rugby league. Sure, rugby union has its flaws. But it's differences need to be celebrated, not merged with a different code.

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Which brings us to the scrum. Almost 1000 kilograms of rugby muscle working against each other is bound to create confusion. Who twisted what elbow, pushed slightly off-centre or slipped first? Let's be honest, referees rarely know. So if they're given an option to play-on and avoid a scrum reset to waste time, will it be the strong scrums who are penalised most?

That's certainly not the intention, but is is possible the dark arts of the scrum will result in strategic collapses to avoid a pushing contest. It wouldn't be in the spirit of the game, but coaches have been known to use the rules in their favour to suit their team and chase wins.

So if you're picking props, do you pick a scrum weapon or a front-rower who's agile and can cope with the faster pace created by the changes?

"These are all things you've got to take into account when you're bringing in law variations," said Wallabies and Brumbies prop Scott Sio.

"It's up to the ref's discretion at the end of the day. We can only control what we can while we're out there. We'll train the best we can and prepare for whatever situation, but whatever happens, we've backed ourselves to be able to adapt and adjust, and just play what's in front."

Rugby Australia says it has been careful to ensure the law variations in the Australian competition don't affect the Wallabies when it comes to Test time. A try-scoring prop who can throw flick passes might be a weapon in Super Rugby AU, but he might not be able to help you when England or South Africa turn up the heat at scrum time.

The truth is no one will know until the trial has been complete, and rugby needed something to make up for letting the game drift over the years.

Denying defensive players the right to "mark" the ball if it is kicked from inside the 22 metres zone will promote the aerial acrobatics we see in the NRL. It won't help the Wallabies break down international goal-line defences with slick back-line moves, but it may give them another weapon to unleash.

All of this will be taken into consideration when teams are named for round one in the first week of July.

Sio is coming back from a broken hand and the Brumbies have been managing his training load to avoid reaggravating a calf injury. "I have good days and bad days with the hand, I'm starting to feel comfortable. At my age you get a few niggles ... the bodies are good. We're just taking some precautionary measures around old injuries," Sio said. "It's a young man's game, I'll have to get a bit slimmer and a bit faster to keep up with the young fellas."

Brumbies coach Dan McKellar is confident his team will thrive with the new rule changes and a faster tempo to games, including his three Wallabies props Sio, Allan Alaalatoa and James Slipper.

"To me, those three are in career-best shape," McKellar said. "When we talk about these law variations that I've been involved in, the No. 1 principle is that we don't lose the fabric of the game.

"It's not like scrummaging won't be important. It will be as important as it ever has been. But do we need to sit in the corner and have four or five resets? No we don't. If teams try to look for easy options in and around the scrum, they'll be penalised. We're doing more work on the scrum than we ever have."

SUPER RUGBY AU DRAW

July 4: ACT Brumbies v Melbourne Rebels, 7.15pm

July 18: NSW Waratahs v ACT Brumbies at Sydney, 7.15pm

July 25: Western Force v ACT Brumbies at TBC

August 1: ACT Brumbies v Queensland Reds at Canberra Stadium, 7.15pm

August 7: Melbourne Rebels v ACT Brumbies at Melbourne, 7.05pm

August 22: ACT Brumbies v NSW Waratahs at Canberra Stadium, 7.05pm

August 28: ACT Brumbies v Western Force at Canberra Stadium, 7.05pm

September 5: Queensland Reds v ACT Brumbies at Brisbane, 7.15pm

September 12: Qualifying final 2 v 3

September 19: Final 1 v winner of 2 v 3