Australia back row forward Harry Wilson said Wednesday he “feels for the big boys in the front row” who will bear the brunt of new regulations for the Rugby Championship, which kicks off on Saturday.
There will be a 30-second time limit to form scrums and lineouts when the Wallabies face South Africa in Brisbane and New Zealand take on Argentina in Wellington.
“It’ll be interesting to see how it goes,” Australia No 8 Wilson told reporters.
“I feel for the big boys in the front row having to run to a scrum and get there in 30 seconds, but I think it’s cool to speed up the game.”
Several rule changes have been introduced by governing body SANZAAR for this year’s four-nation southern hemisphere competition aimed at speeding up the game and clarifying the rules.
Goal-kickers will have only 60 seconds to take a penalty or conversion.
A player who has been red-carded can in some cases now be replaced 20 minutes after his dismissal.
But a team taking more than 30 seconds to be ready for a scrum or lineout could be penalised by a free-kick.
“I think that’s what the fans and players ultimately want,” Wilson said.
“We want to be playing more footy rather than just waiting at scrums and lineouts, so it’ll definitely bring a lot more fatigue into the game.”
