All Blacks greats back 6-point try rule

All Black Ma'a Nonu dives over to score at Eden Park. Photo / Brett Phibbs

The trial of six point tries in Welsh rugby has the backing of rugby greats Buck Shelford and Stu Wilson, but both former All Black captains say even bigger overhauls are needed to improve the game.

The Welsh Rugby Union has given the go ahead for trialling the new point system, which also includes reducing penalties and drop goals from three points to two.

Their aim is to make the game more open and attacking.

World Rugby is yet to offer its approval for the trial.

Wilson agreed that higher incentives for tries would make the game both more interesting to watch and more fun for the players.

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"We've been talking about this for 20 years."

"The players love it. It's running rugby you know, you're forced to actually attack. You can't sit back."

"Spectators would love it, media would love it, television would love it, sponsors would love it, it benefits everyone. Probably the only downside is the referees would need to be much fitter."

He said the Welsh Rugby Union's proposal was a good start, but said changes should be made to other rules as well, to simplify the game and make things easier for referees to call.

"If they're going to change the points for a try they should look at changing the entire bloody rule book at the same time and reduce it from 10 million pages to four."

Wilson was under no illusion change would come quickly, even if World Rugby approves the trial.

"It could take ten years to change it.

"Unless they fast track it through, but you still have to take it to the international rugby board, you have to vote ... to try and get a rule change in the game of rugby you have to wait until there's a new pope in town."

"[But] it's a good start."

Shelford agreed World Rugby should give the trial the green light, but said more changes were needed to achieve the Wales Rugby Union's goal of creating a more open and attacking game.

"We've got to have more incentive on the tries ... and so the kicking in the game goes to drop kicks, so there's no place kicking," he said.

"I reckon we should actually have a five point try, a four point try and a three point try."
Shelford said zones past the try line should be made where the further the ball was carried, the more the try would be worth.

He also said he would take Welsh proposal to lower the points for penalties and drop goals further, reducing them to one point each.

"We should have one point conversion and one point penalty and everything else is free kicks.

"There's far too much kicking [and] too many penalties at goal. The only penalty should be for foul play," he said.

"I'd rather use the bin a lot more or send somebody off."

Shelford said kickers like Dan Carter would still be important if these changes were made, and the changes would simply increase game time and speed things up.

"The kicker will still be valuable but what we've got to do ... to get people to the parks in New Zealand we need a game that's gonna be played.

"Are people going to come and watch a kicker kick a goal or are they going to come and watch tries being scored?"