The great and the good from around the rugby globe descended upon London this week to decide the future of the controversial experimental law variations.

This long-winded and no doubt expensive process began in the aftermath of the 2003 Rugby World Cup and thankfully there appears to be an end in sight.

The IRB should be praised for their efforts to at least investigate how the game can be improved for those who play the game and those who support it from the touchlines - but they should not feel they need to justify the time and effort of the Laws Project Group and force through any variations that simply do not work.

I tend to agree with former Wales international and now BBC pundit Jonathan Davies on the issue. Earlier this week he said, “If the ELVs have not worked then the authorities should have the balls to admit they have been wrong and say: ‘Thank you very much, lets not change the rules and draw a line under it.’”

So what is the future for the ELVs? Will any make it into the law book? If some are to be believed then their will be little re-writing of the Laws required this summer but there will be some changes.

Some reports quoted a list of 30-odd ELVs would be on the agenda this week but surely only those trialled globally since August 1 last year stand any chance of progressing to the IRB's rugby committee on April 27 and from there to the full IRB Council meeting on May 13. Any proposals that make it that far will require a two-thirds majority amongst the 26-member Council for it to become law.

Such a scenario spells trouble for the likes of Australia and New Zealand who will be hoping to see all the ELVs, including those only trialled in the southern hemisphere, pushed through. But surely even they realise that the sanctions variation (that reduced many penalty offences to a free kick) is a non-starter, despite their best efforts to herald the positive impact on their game.

Those ELVs were doomed as soon as the IRB allowed southern and northern hemispheres to go their own ways with the variations with the influence and voting power of the leading northern hemisphere unions set to trump their southern counterparts.

As for those that have been trialled around the globe, many expect the maul to be given an injection of life with the scrapping of the ELV that allows it to be pulled down. The controversial ELV allowing any number at the lineout (with a minimum of two) is also likely to be given the boot. We can only hope that the increased presence of the maul will tie up players and free up valuable space that can be exploited by attack-minded teams.

Amongst those set to live on to fight another day are the less controversial experiments such as the pass back into the 22/no gain on the kick, the quick lineout throw and the 5m offside line at the scrum.

Amidst all the claim and counter-claim between hemispheres regarding the pros and cons, credit must go to the Rugby Football Union for consulting with all areas of the game to get their views. As with many sports, the grassroots are key to future development and should never be ignored.

UPDATE: The sport's powerbrokers have emerged from their conference a little earlier than expected after drowning in statistics from over 800 matches in 15 different countries. A total of 10 recommendations have been made and as expected the pulling down of the maul, the unlimited numbers at the lineout and the sanctions ELVs are not amongst them.