"Our coaches find it a helluva lot easier to achieve the half game rule using rolling subs. It's a lot less pressure for our coaches as to when they can roll players on and off," said Hickey.
He added that there have no complaints from parents in the first few weeks of the 2015 junior season from coaches adopting the rolling subs way.
"We do agree with the half game rule (in principle) and will do our best to achieve that using rolling subs and allowing coaches to make the correct decisions. But we're not trying to fix something that's not broken."
The other issue is the size of junior club teams, which play seven- or 10-a-side, so often limit the number of subs anyway.
Francis Stowers is the new teacher in charge of rugby at Sacred Heart College, which has 15 teams, making it one of the biggest rugby schools in Auckland. He too has reservations about the rule, especially as all his teams capture the ages of 13-18, when the competitive nature of rugby is firmly embedded. Second XV and Under 15 school competitions can be regarded as elite, if not at the First XV level of competitiveness.
"Obviously it it's applied properly, then it's workable. The only sticking points come with the bigger games and when coaches and teams are trying to win championships," said Stowers.
"The good thing here (at Sacred Heart) is that the coaches have that dialogue with the kids as to why they are playing so many minutes. It's important to get that buy-in from them and the parents."
One of the controversial reaches of the rule is that it applies up to Under 16 rep level as well. A First XV player not subject to the rule, but who is under 16, may play his rep rugby under a different set of conditions.
"It's not the best thing at rep level, where you might have scouts for the Chiefs and Blues Under 18s looking at Under 16 rep players," added Stowers. He advocates common sense, and says there have been no issues thus far in 2015.
Auckland Rugby Union club rugby manager Lewis McClintock acknowledges the challenges of policing and implementing the rule, but believes long-term it is important for it to work, especially in a union which is of major strategic importance to New Zealand Rugby.
"In general terms, it wasn't well received, more because it was out of left field in 2014. It was felt there hadn't been a lot of consultation. It was a tough challenge at the coalface as people had been doing what they had been doing (with, for example, rolling subs) for years and that had worked well," said McClintock.
The union has not received any direct complaints from people or clubs not adhering to the rule, so issuing sanctions was not an option. New Zealand Rugby recommends an official letter of reproach for the first breach and then a one-week suspension for the coach for a second breach. There is, rightly, no onus on referees to enforce the rule.
"The majority agree that the rationale is sound and makes sense and we are fully supportive of that. It has to be adhered to, but maintaining compliance is tough. There has to be self-compliance," he said, adding that more can be done to educate the coaches, some of whom may be new to the game.
"New Zealand Rugby's stance is if you sign up to play rugby and pay your fees, you should have an equal chance to play the game as anyone else.
"There are big positives for this. Ultimately it will become standard. Just like when we used to have no subs. People thought that would be the death of rugby when that changed, but it hasn't been," said McClintock.
In the meantime, it appears many coaches will try and manage their squads as best they can, even in contravention of New Zealand Rugby rules.
