We all know about statistics and how much store to set by them, but here's an interesting fact: during the first weekend of the new experimental laws - the ones designed to open up the game - no side in the Premiership got a try bonus point. Ditto the Magners League, although James Hook steered the Ospreys to a four-try win against a depleted Cardiff Blues on Tuesday.
So stats can prove anything. But it's often worthwhile looking at the figures when you suspect a pattern forming. For instance, the opening weekend in the Premiership produced an average of 37.82 points per game as opposed to 51.8 last season, and the number of tries scored averaged 3.3 compared to six. Now look at the southern hemisphere. The backroom boys say that under the new laws in the Tri-Nations the fly-halves kick 50% of possession whereas in the Six Nations under the old laws it was 30%, which tends to confirm the feeling that I had after viewing tapes of last weekend's games in England - there is more kicking and even more than I expected.
Why? It will take possibly four or five games before more realistic judgments are made, but could it be that the lineout has become a mess - a dog fight - and even the best operators are now less sure of winning their own ball? Some will say that was the legislators' intention, but by removing the restriction on numbers - either side can decide how many they want in the line - it has been reduced as an attacking platform. In effect, the legislators have (theoretically) created more attacking opportunities off the scrum, by moving the offside line back five metres, but have taken more away simply because there are still more lineouts than scrums.
In the manner of men fascinated by such things, Will Greenwood and I were last week drooling over memories of quick ball from a five-man lineout. That isn't going to happen any more because no side is going to hand their opponents an obvious advantage. Likewise the old line, when the defending side had to guess where the ball was going and position their lifters. Two pods - two lifters and a jumper in each - used to leave two men spare.
A throw to the front jumper was handy setting up a drive, ball to the back tied in the breakaway forwards, and quick ball off the middle set up the backs. Now nine men move into the line to form three pods, every option - more or less - is covered and everyone is left guessing.
These are just a few thoughts - possibly premature ones and I'd like to hear yours - on a first weekend which also produced a much more warming stat, average attendances across the Premiership were up from 12,345 to 15,756, and confirmation that guile and experience still have a place in an era when players keep getting bigger and faster.
In May 1996 I played against Mike Catt in the cross-code matches that celebrated the end of a century of niggle between league and union. At Maine Road, Manchester, under league rules, Wigan beat Bath convincingly (Bath won the return under union rules at Twickenham) and Catt stood out as the player who could have been a success had he decided to switch codes. He picked things up quickly and found ways to create space for himself and others. Last Saturday, 12 years on and 11 days short of his 37th birthday, he was at it again, this time for London Irish against us in the opening fixture of the season at Twickenham. At the time it was a painful experience because, as champions, we let ourselves down.
In fact the pain has been there all week, but reviewing the tapes to see where faults lay has given better perspective of just how influential Catt still is coaching the London Irish attack in training and on the field. His legs lasted only 65 minutes but for all that time he pulled the strings, translating his accumulated nous into a new era and passing it on to those around him.
As I say, it was painful at the time but hard to begrudge the smile on Catt's face as he made way for Eoghan Hickey, 10 years his junior. It's nice to see that the artists of the game can still flourish.
