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Corry sceptical over ELVs

Thursday 28th August 2008

Corry: 'It's pointless moaning about it'

Leicester captain Martin Corry has started to appreciate the experimental law variations (ELVs) but still believes they should never have been introduced.

The ELVs - which include being able to collapse the maul and no player restrictions at the line-outs - will be in operation when the Guinness Premiership season opens on September 6.

The law changes have few supporters in the northern hemisphere, where club and international rugby are basking in unprecedented levels of popularity.

Corry was initially sceptical over the controversial changes but is no longer in total opposition.

"Initially, I would have said I was quite firmly against the new laws," said the former England flanker.

"After playing with them, the majority of them make a slight alteration and don't make a huge difference.

"There's a couple that don't change the way we play but the difference isn't as marked as I thought it would be.

"Should they have brought the rules in? No. The Guinness Premiership and Heineken Cup are great brands of rugby.

"I know there are problems elsewhere in the sport but why change what we've got when it's doing so well?

"The way the game is going, we're heading to a more Super 14 type of rugby.

"But it's pointless moaning about them. We've spent the summer developing skills that allow us to make best use of them.

"Now I've accepted them and played under them, I've started to see the positives about them."

Corry thinks the impact of the ELVs is likely to rest on how they are handled by referees.

"There's a lot of pressure on referees now," he added.

"It may take up to a month before everything settles down so that we can actually find out how the referees can interpret the laws."