Warren Gatland has made a series of radical proposals that he believes could improve rugby, calling for the repeal of some of the game’s laws.

The Wales manager reflected on Argentina’s World Cup quarter-final exit and set out his own vision for the future of the sport after some surprising statistics opened his eyes. After attending the World Rugby Conference following the tournament, Gatland found that the teams that recorded the most shots during their matches in France had “around 80% wins”.

Writing in his column for the Daily Telegraph, he admitted the statistic was a “curse” and that it “came back to bite” Wales at the World Cup when they lost a shock clash against the Pumas in the last 16. But with a new World Cup cycle just around the corner, Gatland called for something to be done to “turn the balance in favor of the attack” and outlined several ways of achieving this.

At the top of what he calls “Christmas Changes to refereeing ‘wish list’ As well as calls for wider protection for referees following the abuse of Wayne Barnes and Tom Foley, Gatland also suggested a review of the TMO’s bunker system, with a decision on whether to keep it in play or discard it. he .

And after the World Cup final was somewhat overshadowed by New Zealand captain Sam Kane’s first-half sending off, the Wales manager said there should be a discussion about how to use red cards. Suggesting that World Rugby could consider Super Rugby’s use of 20-minute red cards, he added: “We don’t want semi-finals or finals to be decided by cards.

“This is the time when the world sees us play and it’s an opportunity to grow the audience and you don’t want to ruin the show. “I think most people could live with a 20-minute penalty.”

In terms of specific changes to the law, Gatland advocated the removal of the old ‘marks’ rule, suggesting that it was somewhat redundant in the modern game and instead “slows down play and eliminates the danger of high balls for the 22 of opponents.”

Among the coach’s other “quick fixes” is speeding up the scrum, something he says Wales will push for in the future. Six Nations – and change the kicking law to 50-22 to allow teams to attack even if the ball goes into their own half. Such a move, he said, “will force teams to fall behind more often, which can create more space for attack and will also make refereeing easier in accordance with the law.”

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At the heart of Gatland’s proposals is the desire to “keep the game moving” and make teams “more inventive and creative” in attack. As a result, he also called for attacking teams who see the ball over the line to be awarded a five-metre scrum, a lineout or even a free kick, rather than the defending team winning a drop-off.

To complete the list, the Wales coach also questioned the current use of substitutions, suggesting that selection moves like the Springbok’s ‘Bomb Machine’ were ruining the game from an attacking point of view.

“The game creates incredibly powerful athletes and when you see teams like South Africa fielding a bench of seven attackers and just one defender at the World Cup, it means their attackers only need to play 40 minutes,” he wrote. “It wasn’t what it should have been.

“In the past, rugby tried to tire the attacking group so that in the last 20 minutes space would open up and there would be more attacking opportunities. We currently don’t see this due to the number of incredible substitutions and athletes. we produce

“I think it’s time to try and reduce the number of substitutions or even go back to the time when it was just for injuries.”