Free kick or penalty? It doesn't matter if you are Robbie Deans. The Wallabies coach has a simple approach to all the muddle and controversy over the Experimental Law Variations (ELVs) - just get on with the game. 'From a player's perspective, the game doesn't change. The same decisions are being made by the referee, it's just the potential consequences that are different and they too are minimal,' said Deans, who will appear with the Wallabies at Hong Kong Stadium for the final clash this season against the All Blacks. Speaking in a conference call from Sydney, Deans said: 'It doesn't change the way we train or prepare to play. It might provide a little bit of tactical difference, but not a lot.' Thanks heavens for that. Fans around the world have been thoroughly confused with the new variations which have not been universally adopted. Originally there were 32 ELVs, but after being trialled in the southern hemisphere, 23 were presented to the International Rugby Board who rejected seven including the legalising of handling in the ruck. However, the historic ANZ 2008 Hong Kong Bledisloe Cup encounter on November 1 will be played under the 13 ELVs being trialled in the northern hemisphere - three further ELVs being dropped - with the main difference being that most infringements at the ruck and maul will be sanctioned with a penalty rather than a free kick, which was used in the Super 14 and Tri-Nations. Detractors (the northern hemisphere) say the sanctions ELVs makes the game lose its shape, but Australia and New Zealand - and South Africa have fallen in line - say it speeds up the game. Deans, who at the moment is rated as the best coach in international rugby, couldn't care less that he has to re-jig his thought process for the Hong Kong game. The former Crusaders coach is just looking forward to visiting and getting on with the job of developing the Wallabies into a cohesive unit, with the emphasis on shoring up a leaky defence. Although critics say the ELVs were pushed through by the Australian Rugby Union, as they bid to make the game more attractive and stave off competition from Aussie rules football and rugby league, Deans believes they were adopted because they are 'no-brainers'. Deans said: 'The bulk of the law variations have been adopted and accepted for good reason. It's been a good experience, or experiment, whichever way you want to look at it. It doesn't concern us, to be honest. All we want to know as players and coaches is what the parameters are and we'll get on with it.' A former All Blacks fullback, Deans side-stepped with aplomb the question whether he thought the ELVs had made rugby more entertaining. 'I think there's been some great rugby played and you can put it down to whatever you like,' Deans said. 'If you didn't know there were law variations applied, you wouldn't have known - it was very much the same game.' Deans, who turned 49 this month, was appointed as the first foreign coach of Australia in June. After a disappointing World Cup last year - Australia bowed out in the quarter-finals - many felt he was the perfect choice to revive the country's fortunes. ARU chief executive John O'Neill, who described Deans' appointment as 'a new start', said he had every confidence Australia can move into a golden era. 'We don't hide from the fact we need to improve our win-loss ratio and produce a style of rugby our fans will embrace on a consistent basis,' O'Neill said. 'I have no doubt 2008 will see us start to head in the right direction.' And the Wallabies certainly seem to have done just that if the Tri-Nations were any indication - losing the silverware to their arch rivals New Zealand by the narrow margin of one try. 'We were four points short. We were not that far away,' said Deans who admitted that a shaky defence had left the team vulnerable in the last couple of matches including the tense decider a fortnight ago in Brisbane which the All Blacks won 28-24. 'Some of the tries we let in were soft and we have identified a number of reasons for that. We will work on that in Hong Kong, and try to improve. We have made headway and we are close to where we need to be but not close enough,' he added. The Wallabies will arrive in Hong Kong on October 27. The All Blacks encounter - the first time they will be meeting them in a neutral venue outside a World Cup - on November 1 will be followed on successive Saturdays with games against Italy, England, France and Wales before culminating in a match against the Barbarians. 'We have six games, a solid chunk of test rugby which will conclude the campaign for 2008. Everyone will want to finish the season on a big note,' promised Deans.
