Johnson becomes new Ireland boss

future_plans

Breaking news from the BBC

"Martin Johnson has signed a three-year contract to become the new manager of the Ireland rugby team.
Johnson, who will be unveiled at 1300 BST on Friday, was originally tipped to succeed Brian Ashton in the England setup.

"This represents a major coup for Irish rugby" IRFU President Peter Boyle told the official website.

Boyle added: "The fact that one of the most influential figures (Johnson) in world rugby is willing to come here should make all Irish rugby fans very happy.

"Let's all support and enjoy one of rugby's true greats as he embarks on what we all hope will be a fantastic new chapter in Ireland's rich and proud history."

It will be former Leicester and England lock Johnson's first steps into management, after ending his glittering playing career following the World Cup success in 2003.

Johnson replaces his former nemesis Eddie O'Sullivan, who occupied the role for over six years. In that time, the pair were outspoken of each other on many issues both on and off the field."

Amz

April fools is dead and gone, you're the fool who carrys on.

egan007

An April fools should be at least plausible and somewhat believable

bleg

The laws of rugby union are set to change once again, with the IRB announcing on Tuesday a new set of law variations designed to alter the current tactical over-structure of the modern game.

The new laws are officially being termed Official Rugby Constitutionals - ORCs for short. The ORCs will take over from the ELVs for both hemipsheres at the commencement of the next season - September 1 for the north, and January 1 for the south. The November Tests are set to be played with ORCs and not ELVs, however, as the heavy weather suits the ORCs better.

The ORCs have already been seen trialling with clubs all over the world, and are said to be using the clubs perfectly.

There are several major changes, most notably at the line-out.

The ball can now be kicked out directly into touch from anywhere on the field, which could lead to a territorial-style game based around boot to ball, particularly as the team kicking the ball out now gets the throw-in.

However, to counter the current structured nature of the line-outs, which almost always sees the team throwing in winning the ball, jumpers are no longer allowed to be lifted at the line-out, meaning teams will be able to gain ground and ball by snaffling more opposition throw-ins as a result of the free-for-all.

All the teams' forwards are to be present at line-out time as well, meaning the days of the shortened line-out are now gone forever, and also ensuring that the backs have more room and that props never appear on the wing.

The offside line is now set at 10m behind the hindmost foot of the scrum and at 10m back from the line-out, giving outside players more room to get up some momentum in a mad charge for the line and space not only to perform clever moves in but also buying a precious extra second to pick the ball up and continue attacking if the ball is dropped.

At scrum-time, the 'Crouch, touch, pause, engage' call from the referee has been done away with, as it has clearly stabilised the scrum far too much in recent times. The new unstable set piece will mean that teams with big forward packs are now able to get a nudge on even if it is not their own ball by simply giving it a big shove a fraction of a second before the ball comes in, perhaps the most innovative and revolutionary of the new laws and likely tactics.

While the ELV-nurtured hands-in-ruck contest is still allowed at the breakdown, the insistence of entry through the gate and the new offside line at the tackle have also been axed. The impetus is now on players to simply get at the ball in the middle of the mêlée by any means possible and from any position to secure possession.

There are no more drop-kicks at restarts either, bar the 22 drop out. All kicks from the centre of the pitch to start or restart a game are now place kicks, and must be without the aid of a tee. All kicks at goal are to be without the aid of a tee as well, and players are not now permitted to feature any squatting positions, goose-steps, or limb-twitching as a part of their kicking routine.

By and large, it seems the trend for the future is for much larger players under the ORCs, where ELVs allowed more room for the smaller players to move.

"The new laws we are introducing have been tested in the past for many years and have been proven to be successful," said Sri Lankan-born IRB spokesman Lee Vingthegamealonewouldbegoodforachange.

"Understandably there are some who do not think the game will benefit from having ORCs rather than the less physical ELVs. However, the current structured nature of the ELVs game has meant fewer tries and consequently fewer bums on seats, and certainly fewer fairy-tale stories of success.

"We believe that by taking the structure out of the game, particularly with regard to the breakdown and the set piece, we will break the stranglehold some tactically astute teams have on possession and create more turnovers, from which tries are more often scored. The ORCs are just more aggressively attack-minded than the ELVs.

"The bottom line is: we have to have more tries, and we will do anything to get this - even if it means eventually changing the laws so that the ball can be passed forward.

"The game will undoubtedly die if we do not double our try count within the next four years as a result of try-counted advertising revenues, and we will stop at nothing to ensure this try count is raised sufficiently for all advertisers and marketeers to be completely satisfied."

World Cup referee Alain Rolland will be the first to police the ORCs in September; it is believed his non-nonsense approach will keep the ORCs well in check.


that was on planet rugby this morning

http://www.planetrugby.com/Story/0,18259,3551_3372016,00.html