Australia's Super 14 rugby coaches have predicted a dire return to dour, forward-oriented penalty-goal shootouts after being disappointed by a deferral of a key law change.
A two-day International Rugby Board conference in London ended with 70 leading figures of the game recommending a host of minor law alterations but rejecting changes to the maul and sending the controversial sanctions experiment away for further review.
The experimental sanctions see most ruck infringements penalised with free-kicks rather than penalties, cutting down penalty goal kicks and indications are they won't be revisited until after the 2011 World Cup.
The Queensland Reds, New South Wales Waratahs and Western Force coaches, Phil Mooney, Chris Hickey and John Mitchell, says the sanctions should be retained to ensure a faster game where the ball stays in play longer.
