It's possibly a sign of desperation, or a genuine attempt at innovation, but South Africa, New Zealand, Australia and Argentina Rugby (Sanzaar) yesterday confirmed law variations three weeks before the start of this year's Super rugby tournament. One of the two changes is to the bonus-point law, which has been in place for 20 years since the inaugural professional version of Super rugby in 1996.For two decades teams scoring four tries have been awarded a bonus point regardless of whether they won or lost the match, or how many tries their opponents scored.But from this season, a try-scoring bonus point will only be awarded if a team outscores the opponents by three tries. So if Team A scores five tries but Team B scores three, Team A will fail to register a bonus point because there was only a two-try difference.The idea is to encourage teams to continue to play positive rugby even when they are well ahead, or risk losing their bonus point. It feels a little contrived even though it has been in use in France.Stormers coach Robbie Fleck said yesterday of the bonus point change: "It's there to encourage attacking rugby and seems to be working well in France."It's a good initiative. But it won't change the way we approach our preparation, which started back in November. Our philosophy this year is to score more tries anyway."The second change might turn out to be good for countries that take pride in their line-out, which South African teams certainly do.Teams will now have the option of kicking to touch and having a line-out for a penalty awarded after the final hooter.Previously, once the final alarm had sounded, the ball could not be put into touch even if the attacking team were awarded repeated penalties after the hooter.It's one variation that makes sense as opposed to the bonus-point law, which seems arbitrary."These law amendments, while subtle in nature, will help Super rugby's continuing evolution as the best provincial competition in the world," Sanzaar chief executive Andy Marinos said."The change to the bonus point, which has been widely discussed throughout the past week as one potential innovation, has now been formally approved."In addition, permitting teams to opt for a line-out after time has expired serves to stop opponents from infringing."..