AUSTRALIAN rugby legend Matt Burke suspects the recent lapses in the Wallabies' defence could be partly due to them having trouble adapting to the speed and intensity of Test football under the experimental law variations.

"The new laws mean that you are out on your feet and with the speed they are getting around the park, there is no downtime recovery. You just go again," said Burke, who earned 81-Test caps between 1993 and 2004. "Taking the quick tap and putting people under pressure to maintain integrity in the line. It makes it that little bit harder. When people are stressed they don't talk. They lose that formation of line and that is when you create gaps. It only takes one instance in one Test match and that is all you need to score a try."

Burke also believes the ELVs make it harder for sides to control ball possession and that last Saturday's 24-28 loss to the All Blacks showed the Wallabies still have plenty of work to do.

"The laws are quite good in terms of how the game is moving, but you can get caught up in a chase mechanism of having to push and to keep going. If you don't you get the ball back, you lose it," he said. "Times have changed. You could slow the ball down. There are new ways of doing that. That is the tactical part. [Players] have to keep upskilling themselves. They [the Wallabies] are nearly there. On the weekend they played some good footy, but then there were a couple of periods where they slacked off."

However, Burke believes more time is also needed for crucial combinations to work together if the Wallabies are to reach their potential - especially with new defensive systems in place.

"The personnel has to be confident about who they playing inside and outside with. Once that combination comes it becomes that little bit easier to know what is going to happen, to be that little bit more instinctive," he said. "We had a generation that was able to do that with the halves, the centres … and a pack that was pretty much together for a long period of time."

However, the new Waratahs kicking coach, who has returned to Australia after three years playing for Newcastle in England, believes the prospects of the Wallabies under coach Robbie Deans are bright.

Of the Brisbane loss to the All Blacks, Burke said: "At 17-7 [up after 45 minutes] they could have controlled the ball a bit more. But this is stuff you learn from."

He also believes the absence of Berrick Barnes due to his shoulder injury cost the Wallabies dearly.

"No doubt they missed Barnes … that second kicking option," Burke said. "We saw the effect he had in Sydney [in Australia's 34-19 win against the All Blacks on July 26]. He was able to push one through - a couple of 40/20s on the way there as well - to turn them around and make the All Blacks apply the pressure just to get out of their kicking zone. But the Wallabies are playing a brand of football I think they are enjoying. Their kicking is proactive. They have six games [from the end of season tour] to go. There are still things to be positive and work on in terms of 2008."

Meanwhile, the Australian Rugby Union yesterday applauded the International Rugby Board's decision to trial ELVs in the northern hemisphere that allow penalties to be reduced to free kicks.

The sanction laws were not originally on the list of ELVs for global trial that was approved by the IRB on May 1. However, the IRB yesterday announced that they would be trialled in the Espoirs Championship in France, which is for the second team of those in the French Top 14 championship involving under-23 and professional players.

"Let's hope others will now follow the lead of the French," ARU chief executive John O'Neill said.