KEY POINTS:
Yet another law change looms for the All Blacks and Wallabies, who will scrap some experimental law variations (ELVs) in Hong Kong to prepare for their European rugby tours.
Australian Rugby Union chief executive John O'Neill said he had agreed to the New Zealand Rugby Union's wish that the November 1 test in Hong Kong be played under the universal ELVs brought in on August 1.
That means most infringements at the ruck and maul will be sanctioned with a penalty rather than a free kick, which was used in the Super 14 and Tri-Nations.
It brings the laws into line with those being trialled in Europe, which include some ELVs such as the 5m offside line at scrums, and no kicking out on the full from a ball passed inside the 22m line.
Meanwhile, three more potential All Blacks officially crossed the Tasman at the beckon of the rugby master Robbie Deans as he unveiled his Wallabies of the future yesterday.
Western Force utility James O'Connor, Reds five-eighths Quade Cooper and Waratahs prop Sekope Kepu - all with a handy dose of Kiwi - joined Zimbabwe-born Force flanker David Pocock as the four new caps in Deans' 34-man European tour squad.
O'Connor, 18, was the bolter and could become the second-youngest Wallabies test player, after 1957 winger Brian Ford, if he gets a run against Italy, England, France or Wales in November.
O'Connor was in the rare position of being eligible for all three Tri-Nations sides - the Wallabies through residency in Queensland; the All Blacks through his New Zealand parents and the Springboks through a South African grandparent.
Cooper, 20, was celebrating his callup after a strong season with the Reds, five years after crossing the Tasman with his parents to settle in Brisbane.
He grew up in Tokoroa and represented Waikato age-group sides but never looked back after being identified in the Australian Rugby Union's national talent squad.
Sydney-born Kepu, 22, graduated from a noted New Zealand rugby nursery, Jonah Lomu's Wesley College near Auckland.
- NZPA
