New interpretations of rules should hopefully make the game more entertaining, acting Sanzar referee manager Lyndon Bray says.
The 2010 rugby season got under way at the weekend with pre-season matches and Bray said there were two fundamental changes in the way the game was being officiated this year - one at the breakdown and the other at scrum time.
Referees would also be made more accountable and if they did not measure up would be moved down the grades.
The major change at the breakdown revolves around the defender and how he can act when he is at the breakdown.
Under the new interpretation, once the tackler goes to the ground he has to release everything and then get back up to his feet.
Previously the defender could get the ball in the tackle, and had just as many rights as the attacker.
"What was happening was it was quite easy for a lot of defenders to get the ball and then stop the attacking side from having any continuity.
"You can still have a contest at the breakdown, but what it is now is the tackler has to be pretty dominant to have the rights to the ball," Bray said.
"That is going to be a real technique change for coaches.
The aim is that it will reward the defenders when they should be rewarded.
It will allow the attacking side more continuity and quicker ball.
"I think we got ourselves into a little bit of a bind where we stymied a lot of the attack and it got too predictable.
"It was getting messy at the clean-out.
"Now we want guys to get better ball, have more one-on-one opportunities [and have] more ball for longer."
Bray said when Super rugby started the attacking team had all the rights at the breakdown, but then it had gone the other way in the past couple of years.
"We don't want it to go back to where the attacking side had all the rights, but I would like to think it would create more attack and more space."
Bray also admitted the scrum had become a major blight on the game.
Some games had far too many scrums reset, ruining the spectacle - the last 10 minutes of the match between the All Blacks and Italy in Milan the obvious example.
"People do not want to turn up to games to watch that.
"It is just pure boredom.
"We still want sides to scrummage, but start from a better position."
He said tighthead props would have to stay straighter, while loosehead props would have to start from a higher position.
Scrummaging coaches would get the message and there would be little leniency given to offending players.
Bray said referees were also coming under the spotlight and would be held accountable for their actions.
"We have made it very clear that we have a merit group of eight starting off and then a reserve group of nine working away to a blueprint that will put the acid on the top guys.
"And we will be very transparent about that.
"What we are aiming for is a consistent performance of the game plan.
"Like any player, the referee has to perform, and if he doesn't, we'll say they have to go away and work on it."
