England prop Andrew Sheridan hopes the Experimental Law Variations being trialled in the Premiership this season do not change the traditional face of rugby union.
Thirteen ELVs are being tested in a move to make the game faster and more visually appealing to spectators, including a requirement for defending players to be five metres away from the back of a scrum.
Other rules suggest a team can use as many players as they wish to defend a line-out, while players are allowed to bring down a maul, but Sale ace Sheridan is not convinced the changes are necessary.
He told the Stockport Express: “I think they are messing about with the game a bit.
“I’ll have to see how they go and just adapt to it but I hope it doesn’t change the game too much.
“Personally, I think it’s quite good that we’ve got all different shapes and sizes in rugby but you can see it going the route of everyone having to conform to a certain size if the rules keep progressing as they are.”
