Rob Baxter slams World Rugby over constant law changes

Few have spent more time in the game than Baxter, making him particularly well-placed to comment on the frequent rule alterations. He has been with the club since 2009, taking over after the sacking of former coach Pete Drewett.

Now on a new deal, Baxter was asked how the Prem and rugby in general have evolved since he arrived in Devon as coach, having previously played lock at the club for 14 years and served as captain for 10 years.

"My frustration in all of the time that I've done the job is how much tinkering we have done. It just feels like a sport that is non-stop tinkering with the rules, with the law variations.

"I've seen spells of seasons with absolutely fantastic rugby played… And all that time, all I've ever heard in every off-season is 'What can we change?'

"It's such an odd concept. If any other sport was doing it, they would just wonder what the hell is going on. Imagine every single season, conversations with FIFA or whoever about changing chunks of the laws of the game of football, it's unheard of.

"Why would you tinker with how the game actually gets played? And it's just been non-stop."

He added that while he understands the safety considerations around head injuries, he sees this as separate from tinkering with the rules themselves. Protection is necessary, he said, but it can be implemented without constantly altering the laws.

"We can't just keep tinkering with the game on the field because we're going to kill our game before we let it settle down to being a good sport.

"It just feels to me, every time we have two or three years without too many law changes, we get fantastic games of rugby, and then we change things again.

"As with everything, the first people we blame are referees, but we keep changing the laws from under them every five minutes and yet we're expecting them to keep up with it."