Little time for tourists to get up to speed on new rules
The British and Irish Lions squad will be shown specially-commissioned video clips from World Rugby to ensure the players are up to speed with new law changes due to come into effect for the first time during the 10-match tour of New Zealand.
The lack of preparation time together as a group — the full 41-man squad will come together for only the first time today following this weekend’s domestic finals — has meant it has not been possible to bring a match official in to explain the five new laws which will come into force as part of World Rugby’s global laws trial.
Instead, the Lions coaching team and video analysts will ensure every player is fully across the changes by watching clips of simulated action demonstrating the new laws, which are due to come into force in the Northern Hemisphere for the start of next season but have been on trial in the south since January.
Some of the changes, such as the decision for a penalty try to be worth an immediate seven points, with conversions no longer required for the maximum return, will speed up the game and potentially act as a greater deterrent to the offending side.
But others are likely to be more influential, including the change to allow the referee to award a lineout when a penalty is kicked to touch even if time has elapsed. Other changes include ensuring that uncontested scrums must be made up with eight players from each side.
To increase the ball-in-play time, players will also be allowed to knock the ball back into play even if it or they have breached the ‘plane of touch’ as long as they are in the air at the time.
The Lions will break up their mammoth journey to New Zealand by spending the night at a hotel near Melbourne before their final flight to Auckland.
The sponsorship of the Lions by Australian airline Qantas means the squad cannot fly straight to Auckland after their first stop in Dubai following a seven-hour flight from Heathrow on Monday afternoon.
Warren Gatland and his 41-player squad will instead take a 13-hour flight to Melbourne. But instead of flying straight on another 31⁄ hours to Auckland, they will stay in a hotel near the airport to give the players a full night’s sleep before arriving in New Zealand on Wednesday afternoon, three days before their first game against the New Zealand Provincial Barbarians.
“We have taken a decision to stay in Melbourne so the players can get a full night’s sleep and arrive in Auckland as fresh as they can be,” said a Lions spokesman. “This should ensure that the physiological toll [of the travel] should be lessened by the stopover.”