JAMISON GIBSON-PARK reckons it is adapt or die in this year’s Six Nations.
World Rugby decided to introduce new laws to speed up the game that have sparked plenty of debate by players and disputes with referees.
Gibson-Park’s teammate Tadhg Beirne is particularly annoyed at the rule that a player – normally the scrum half – canot be tackled within one metre of a ruck if he is playing the ball.
Beirne feels that scrum halves are being wrapped in cotton wool, though naturally Gibson-Park is a fan of that rule change.
He smiled: “Ultimately I can see what they’re trying to do, they want a cleaner, faster game so I think it certainly makes sense from that point of view. I don’t mind it.
“I feel the forwards probably have a different opinion but it’s kind of the way the game is going.”
But his biggest concern is that the changes have been made mid-season which he believes will have a huge bearing on who wins the Six Nations, as teams must adapt.
Gibson-Park continued: “There has been a few chats around the provinces and coming in here.
“It’s important isn’t it to be able to get on the front foot and I suppose exploit these kind of rules in the game.
“We’ve got a little bit more work to do on it but hopefully we’ll be able to take advantage.”
Gibson-Park is naturally evasive on any tricks that are planned, but acknowledged that it will force Ireland to altar their game – as he can no longer put pressure on an opposition’s scrum.
He added: “We’re probably one of the teams that would have tried to take advantage of being able to go and put pressure on the base (of the scrum).
“So that’s gone now, obviously we’ve had to rethink our set-ups and that. That’s all part of the evolution of the game.”
But Gibson-Park insisted that the more the game changes, the more it stays the same for him as Ireland look to start the Six Nations with a win over England.
Last March, England beat Ireland at Twickenham that denied Gibson-Park a second successive Grand Slam though the side still won back-to-back Championships.
And he acknowledged that memories of that heart breaking loss as Marcus Smith scored a drop goal in injury time will be used for motivation.
The Leinster man added: “It’s an unbelievable time of year, it really excites me, it’s one that I always look forward to, and a lot of guys will say the same thing.
“Spring time in Ireland is awesome. Six Nations…I’m still sick with nerves for the games but it’s all worth it once you get the results.
“I wouldn’t say I’ve a preference for any game but we’ve got England first up at the Aviva and they got one-up on us last time.
“They probably caught us on the hop but we stuck in that game and it wasn’t like they ran away from us at all.
“So when you think about it like that, you’re going to be up for this one for sure.
“It’s been mentioned (that Ireland can win three Championships in a row) but we’re pretty week to week focused in here.
“It’s a cliche answer that you’re used to getting but the most important thing is you focus on the game ahead of you but it’s a pretty incredible opportunity to get after so we’ll get stuck in.
“I don’t think in this competition you can get ahead of yourself so we will be focused on the game in hand for sure.”
