Are we, in a year of no relegation going to see a year of rolling maul tries....... effective yes, but not good to watch.

Shall we start a count of tries from open play vs tries from rolling mauls?

Just for fun!

I would rather watch a maul than an aerial kicking fests.

Lets sort out the mess that has become of tackles/rucks.

Also can we actually coach our backs to take and give a pass. I lost count of the errors in the games I watched over the weekend. You expect that from Old Farts Second XV but not from a professional side.

And turn the game into that heretical rugby league? No thank you!

I'd also limit kicks, not into touch, other than drop goals, outside your 22 to one per team in any given phase of play, so one kick can be returned, and after that you run it. This to end or at least lessen the utterly boring kick tennis so prevalent particularly at international level.

I'd also change scrum laws: stop the clock when the whistle is blown till the ball is put in. Stop blatant crooked feeds into the scrum- free kick first offence, yellow card second.  And lastly I'd love to see the endless resets and faffing about at scrum time addressed at scrum time which halts the game needlessly, but for the life of me, don't know what to suggest. 

If the clock was stopped until the ball was put into the scrum it wouldn't add a silly amount of time to the game - certainly not the three hours it takes for an NFL game!

Stoppong the clock is just admitting the referee has lost control.

The referees have the tools to manage it - they just need the backing from the RFU and IRB to do it.

The referees do nto have a good record - they let the professional clubs invbent "the hit" and "you have got to take the hit"

Why, the maul has been part of the game since time immemorial and the big boys need something to do as well as the fast guys.

It risks the ball being turned over if it stops and the ball does not emerge.

The Irish learned to use that a defensive play - refered to as a choke tackle but I hate that term.

The laws now require the ball to be passed back hand to hand - you cannot pass over another played bound into the maul and the ball carrier cannot slip back. That has reduced the worst of the legal obstruction.

You cannot pre-bind - as that is a flying wedge. When I was a schoolboy we practiced flying wedges as a drill.

Offensively, you almost only ever see them from a line out close to the line.

There are ways to defend

One - do not kick the ball out in your own 22 and do not give away penalties so the opposition do not get the opportunity.

Two - catch the opponents ball turning it over.

Three - tackle the ball carrier befoe the maul forms.

Four - drive hard and fast and stop the maul earning the turn over.

The main reason we do not see wingers running is the nine and ten kick the ball away too often and when they don't the centres either drop the ball or run into a brick wall without looking for alternatives.