By WYNNE GRAY
Blues flanker Matua Parkinson had a summer diet of watching rugby videos and studying the law book.
He accepts some of his digestion was incomplete after his frequent penalty offences during the opening Super 12 game against the Highlanders.
Too often his instincts took over at the breakdown, the intuitive skills he and most loose forwards have taken years to refine. He agreed his play needed further refinement but also offered several other observations.
The 26-year-old suggested he got little leniency for being pushed or bumped when he was searching for the ball in the pileups. He also felt New Zealand referee Colin Hawke was more stringent than the South African referees he saw control the rest of the games.
"For instance, I saw George Smith for the Brumbies stapling a lot at the breakdown [bending forwards, supporting his body with his hands] and he got away with it. There seemed to be a different interpretation there from our game," said Parkinson.
"Then there are the range of tricks from opposition teams pulling you down or dragging you into pileups.
"We all accept though that we have to cut down our mistake levels."
Loose forwards were going to be much more in the early Super 12 spotlight because of the strict decision to penalise any players going off their feet at the breakdowns.
Parkinson said it was part of the job description to "live on the edge and push the law." That had always been a big part of the way loose forwards played.
"We will have to be more disciplined, though, in trying to come up with new ways of controlling the ball at the tackle," he said.
"I planned to stay on my feet and do the right things against the Highlanders but got penalised a few times and ended up being a bit frustrated. A couple of times I thought I was protecting the ball when I got bumped off my feet.
"Then, if you slow down and take a little more time to do the right thing at the breakdown it could cost you possession.
"It can be tough to unlearn old habits," Parkinson added, "when all our rugby lives we have been told to secure the ball at the breakdown."
The Blues have had plenty of remedial training this week, with a video replay of their opening game and dissecting each infringement. They then practised their new ideas and had leading referee Paul Honiss assess their methods in training.
New Zealand's Super 12 squads
2001 Super 12 schedule/scoreboard
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