Nolan (26) played his 15th and blazer game for the blue and golds last Friday night against Southland.
Nolan, who first played for Otago in 2003 and then made the Highlanders squad the following year, only to suffer a couple of serious injuries, said the scrummaging game had changed significantly since he made his Otago debut as a 20-year-old.
"On the loosehead side you used to be able to cheat a bit, I suppose, but the ref has picked up on it.
"You used to be able to get angles but you can't get away with it any more," Nolan said.
"Now as soon as you go in an angle on loosehead, the arm goes up.
"But that is the point of the prop.
"Tighthead is supposed to hold them up while the loosehead gets the angle on."
Nolan said the scrum was still a contest but more as a collective unit than mini battles between players.
"It is still a contest in a way, but more as an eight.
"One-on-ones, you can't do much."
He said Otago, winless after two Air New Zealand Cup rounds, was working hard and the scrum was performing well.
Scrum coach Keith Cameron was coming up with new techniques all the time.
Nolan was enjoying being able to chew the ear of Kees Meeuws with the experienced prop lending his years of experience to his fellow front-rowers.
"He's got plenty of experience and we can feed off him."
It has been a long road to get to 15 games for Nolan.
When he debuted for Otago against Canterbury at Carisbrook six years ago, he propped the scrum with Joe McDonnell and Anton Oliver was the hooker.
Not one player he played with in that game is still playing rugby in New Zealand.
The six years it took to get his blazer game can be blamed on some frustrating injuries.
After initial troubles with a foot injury, a hunting injury in 2006 laid him low.
Out looking for pigs near Ranfurly, he stumbled across an unseen pig which put its tusk through his right leg.
It badly cut a nerve in his calf, and he was forced to put his career on hold.
He had to have operations and just bide his time as the nerve the tusk cut slowly healed.
"The nerve takes a wee while to recover.
"It grows 1mm a day and there is sometimes the chance that it won't regrow.
"But it has come right.I get it taped every week but I can still feel it.
"The surgeon was not that confident I would play again.
"Luckily it wasn't my pushing muscle."
Nolan said he took a while to get his bearings when he came back into the first-class scene with Otago last year.
"I had to try to get my head round it.
"It is not only about scrums and line-outs.
"There are defensive roles . . . it is a quick game these days."
