Gerry Thornley On Rugby:The Six Nations to the rescue? Not alone would it be helpful if Ireland's performances helped banish some of the memories from the World Cup, but for many involved in the European game the oldest annual international tournament in the world has a duty to save rugby over the next seven weeks.

Running almost side by side will be the Super 14, which kicks off two weeks later on February 15th, and will feature some of a raft of daft-looking experimental law changes which the IRB are trying out in full during the domestic South African championship.

Eddie Jones and Warren Gatland are among those who have rubbished the proposed changes, maintaining there is nothing wrong with the existing laws were they properly applied.

The World Cup was not, perhaps, the advertisement for the game which rugby's lawmakers and many others had hoped, yet Jones and Gatland have described the IRB's so-called ELVs, Experimental Law Variations, as kneejerk.

Starting with this Six Nations, Gatland has recommended stricter punishment for tacklers who do not roll away and for hands in the ruck, with referees quicker to brandish yellow cards, to help address the game's ills.

To this might be added stricter interpretation of the offside law. With the increasing use of "pick-and go" drives by teams, mostly when playing into the elements or seeking to run down the clock, it appears as if fringe defenders have been given more latitude, albeit under the pretence of being loosely attached to a ruck. Attacking players, especially scrumhalves, are now getting ball and man repeatedly.

With blitz or rush defences also becoming more common, it's as if referees are allowing defensive lines more latitude, although of late there has been some evidence that they are making more use of their audio link-ups with touchjudges.

Football has made far better use of their "referee's assistants" in adjudicating offside, even if this has merely meant the latter have incurred the wrath of supporters, pundits and armchair fans. Previously, rugby in general and referees especially have appeared reluctant to make full use of the extra pair of eyes they have on each touchline, even though they are often better positioned to adjudicate the line of the back foot/offside line.

Another personal gripe is the latitude granted deliberate knock-ons. Why not make any attempted one-handed intercept a deliberate knock-on and punishable with a penalty; even with a yellow card in more instances? As things stand, the one-handed intercept has become almost a licence to cheat, or at any rate spoil.

But rather than enforce the existing laws more rigidly, the IRB are proposing a radical shake-up of the game as it has been played for years. The ELVs will be used in the Super 14 in curtailed form, and thus won't include some of the more controversial ones, such as legalising use of the hands in a ruck, provided the said player is on his feet. If a ball doesn't emerge from a tackle/ruck, the referee will award a free kick to the team not in possession at the start of the tackle or ruck.

Just as significantly, the offside line at a tackle will stretch from touch-line to touch-line and will change with each successive tackle, whether or not a ruck is formed. The tackled player and the tackler will not be subject to the offside law - provided that they get back to their feet to play.

This one could be good, but decidedly tricky and open to interpretation. If, say, a player makes a break and is tackled by the last man, all the opposition's other 14 players are offside until they reach an onside position or an opponent kicks the ball or "runs five metres with the ball". But it should stop "trailing" defenders making tackles or interceptions off offloads in the tackle beyond the gain line.

The Super 14 will not feature another of the most controversial proposals, namely that it will be legal to bring a maul down provided the defending player pulls down an opponent by grabbing him anywhere between the waist and shoulders, ie, it will remain illegal to lift legs in the maul or to grab a player around the neck or to tackle a maul. The so-called "Truck and trailer" will no longer be penalised if it starts from a maul which splinters (this will not apply to the Super 14).

A host of other infringements have been reduced from full penalty offences to indirect free-kicks, such as: lying on the ground on or over the ball, falling on or over a player lying on the ground, going off one's feet at a tackle/ruck and lying on the ground and playing the ball.

If this seems like a licence to spoil, then likewise the host of offences at scrum which are being reduced to free-kicks - such as props pushing in at an angle, incorrect binding, handling in the scrum - also look set to emasculate the scrum and reward inferior, spoiling opponents.

There are other ELVs. If a defending team took the ball back into the 22 and kicked the ball directly into touch, even when passed from a team-mate outside the 22, the lineout is opposite the place where the ball is kicked out. There is no gain of ground.

A quick throw-in needn't be straight - they rarely are anyway.

Oh, and the corner flags will be there in effect for decoration only and if a player or the ball touches the said cornerpost it will not affect any decision by the match officials. Whatever.

The Six Nations therefore, properly policed by the officials and given full backing by coaches, players, pundits and supporters alike, could do nothing better than provide compelling evidence that there is little actually wrong with the game and its laws as things stand.

As for those likely to catch the mood and play with positive intentions, the signals are that France and Wales, under new regimes with four-year deals, will have a go. So too, after a period of time, ought Italy.

And though he enjoys less security of tenure, and a lurking suspicion that the coaching ticket is not entirely of his choosing or singing from the same hymn sheet, Ashton's England probably will do so too. Whether Scotland are equipped to do so remains to be seen, but they are unearthing new faces and have some badly needed new midfield talent in Nick de Luca.

As for Ireland, Eddie O'Sullivan is possibly caught between a rock and a hard place, and just now would settle for winning, and needs a return to form from his midfield talisman as well as developing more dynamic, ball handling from his pack.

Over to you then gentlemen.