Paul Dobson agrees with former England lock Paul Ackford, who feels it is "the mentality of the players and the coaches which corrupt the product", not the way the game is set up.

So rugby gets dull; so we blame the laws. But it's not the laws fault.

Never in the history of the game, not since the IRB started  writing down the laws in 1889, has there been so much testing, consultation and transparency in making/changing laws, and now all of a sudden hands are raised to accuse the laws of the dullness of some top rugby. Some of the accusations are, ironically, made by those who opposed more radical changes.

South Africa were also blamed for perfecting kick-and-chase into a winning formula, but really, it seems, it was the laws' fault.

Then New Zealand played France, Australia played Wales and the Barbarians played the All Blacks - and anybody with half a mind would know it was not the laws' fault. They were played under the same laws which apparently produced boring rugby calculated to drive the crowds away.

Those three matches had everything we could hope for in rugby - skill, a sense of adventure, great efforts of mind, heart and sinew. They were not soft but they were wonderful. And the laws were the same as for every match that England played in the November.

Think back to the regal Lions of 1955 and their great impact on rugby in South Africa and they played under the stodgy old laws of the past. The backs were not pampered with artificially created space but they managed to be exciting, romantic and admired to this day. They did not have the advantages of the 2009 Lions with ten metres back from here and five metres back from there, and restrictions on forwards' movements - and the 2009 Lions ended less admired, less romantic and less creative than the hedged-in 1955 variety. Lions 2009 are already in the process of being forgotten; Lions 1955 live on in the memories of everybody who saw them.

It's never been the laws' fault. Nor can the laws ever manufacture exciting, entertaining rugby. It must come from within the hearts and souls of the men who play it - not for the cosmetic reason of entertainment but because that is the way they really want to play the game - because they are excited and find what they do exciting.

Players who are excited and enthusiastic about the way they play will also win. Passing the ball and running with it and scoring tries are not recipes for defeat. They are recipes for victory and, cliché or not, rugby will be the winner. Look after the spirit and the game - and its laws - will look after themselves.

But be honest - winning is still the most satisfying, the greatest excitement of the lot.