New Zealand rugby icon Sir Brian Lochore has slammed the lack of skills shown by Super 12 players in the first two weeks of the competition.
Former All Black captain and coach Lochore said the new refereeing interpretations were not all to blame for the messy matches seen so far.
Instead, he said, players had to cop most of the blame.
"The interpretations have been disruptive to a degree, but what I've seen is an enormous amount of bad rugby - bad handling, bad passing," Lochore said.
"I haven't seen anyone having the ability to run players into position in an overlap situation. All we are seeing is players just firing long balls out, and when we have a four-on-two overlap we end up with a two-on-two because they throw a long ball.
"We're flat on the ball, the ball's hitting the shoulders, it's going behind people - the passing is very, very average. I've never seen it as bad as this in the past few years."
Lochore did pay tribute to the well-organised defences.
"But it's not all caused by tackling. It's caused by very, very bad passing, thinking and organisation. The structure is not there. Whether this improves is up to the coaches.
"If the players don't know how to pass and draw a man and put someone else away, then they will have to teach them. And that shouldn't have to happen at this level - but I don't think they [the players] have ever been taught that. It certainly doesn't look like it."
Lochore said the problem "is pretty much across the board, though the Aussies are better. I'm not being critical of any single team. I'm talking generally."
While the tackled-ball law was obviously causing concern, it was not causing people to drop as many passes, and to deliver such bad ball, as they had.
"Clearly the positioning is not there. I love watching this game, and I've become very frustrated watching fundamental errors.
"Sure there are always going to be mistakes because we play with an oval ball, and one doesn't have a free run because you always have players in front of you, but to a large degree they should be eliminated at that level."
Lochore hoped New Zealand's move at The Game conference in Britain to reinstitute the maul in the laws, was accepted.
He believed that a change to the "use it or lose it" call would work in cutting down the number of players cluttering midfield. But he criticised the approach of referees to the breakdown this season.
"They are very hard on the player who actually tries to get the ball on the ground, but they are allowing the tackled player turned on the ground to flick the ball back under his body.
"I believe once a player hits the deck that he can't make a second movement. That would stop a hell of a lot of the pile-ups."
- NZPA
Focus on basic skills, not new laws, says rugby great
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