Nigel Owens wants World Rugby to change FOUR laws - including controversial new one

During this year's Rugby Championship, a team can now bring on a replacement for a red-carded player after 20 minutes.

Owens wrote: “The deterrent to change player behaviour is much more effective if the team is down to 14 men for the rest of the game than if just for 20 mins. Drop the speeding fines a few quid and one point on your licence and you won’t be as careful keeping to the speed limit will you…

“Many are taking the risk by illegal clear-outs at ruck and upright or reckless tackles. So the 20m RC is not going to help with changing this behaviour.

“We are talking illegal tackles here which are foul play, not a legal tackle. A player should not be sent off if there is contact to the head and his actions were not illegal or totally reckless or stupidly careless.”

Owens wrote: "As for goal-line dropouts, I was a big fan initially because I felt it would prevent attacking teams from numerous pick-and-gos near the try line, with teams instead attempting to move the ball wide to avoid being held up and losing possession. But I'm not sure it has worked as planned. We still see plenty of pick-and-gos until teams get over, we still see plenty of mauls and the number of collisions hasn't decreased.

"We are also seeing fewer scrums near the goal line, and to be honest I'm not sure that is a good thing. The scrum needs to be an important part of the game, and right now we are not seeing the benefits of it. Rugby must continue to be a game for all shapes and sizes, and at all levels, too.

Attacking teams are also kicking longer knowing that if the ball rolls dead, the defending team has to do a goal-line dropout and they can get the ball back. We've also lost the short dropouts we used to see from the 22-metre line where teams would compete to win the ball back, or a quick dropout would be taken, because teams now backed up on their goal line just kick the ball long to escape and what happens? The opposition kick it back.

"From initially believing it would work, I would now like the goal-line dropout law to go to be honest. If anything it is having a negative effect."

Owens, who would like to see the number of replacements reduced from eight to four our five, previously said: "This is something I have been saying for a long time.

"Every question and answer session I do I am always asked which law I would like to change and I always say I would like to see the substitution law changed.

"We as referees and referee managers in World Rugby, we're always looking at things that need to be applied firmer, which contributes to the safety of the game and that is an ongoing process

"It is a physical game and unless you change it beyond total recognition of what the sport is, you are going to have to accept that there is going to be a risk of injury, but a minimal risk if you compare it to people that are injured everyday in walking about doing nothing."

Owens wrote in his column for The Telegraph during the Lions series: "Some of the scrum-feeds from both sides - particularly in the second half by Cobus Reinach - were beyond a joke.

"I must say that I have been as guilty of not giving enough free-kicks for crooked feeds as any referee, but it has to be stopped as soon as possible now. Scrum-halves simply have to put the ball into scrums in an acceptable manner.

"Everyone you speak to about it wants feeds to be straight. Brian Moore has been making the point for years and I agree with him. Everyone comments on it, and there is no excuse. It has been allowed to creep in, after a brief crackdown a couple of years ago."