Whatever their thoughts about the Experimental Law Variations (ELVs), Guinness Premiership coaches will not let them dominate debate. They have accepted that they must make the best of them for this season and the evidence of the Premiership's first weekend is that players, coaches and referees are making a decent fist of them.

You could argue, indeed, that Leicester yesterday looked as though the clock had not been turned forward at all. Characteristics of the past five seasons were shot through their win over Gloucester as they created havoc in their opponents' lineout and produced their usual nuggety game, to which coherent back play has yet to be grafted.

At Twickenham, the sides that dominated in lineout possession and penalty awards, London Wasps and Saracens, both lost, which suggests that defences remain as mean as ever. The ELVs were introduced to lean the game towards attacking play, but if a side can counter-ruck effectively and are secure in the tackle, the best intentions of the game's administrators will mean as little under new laws as they did last season.

Now that unequal numbers are permitted at the lineout, there are attacking possibilities there as much as from set scrums, where defenders must stay five metres back. Harlequins worked David Strettle over for a try within 53 seconds of the kick-off against Saracens from an attacking scrum; Richard Thorpe - “He's normally more tinned salmon than leaping salmon,” Toby Booth, the London Irish head coach, observed - strolled through a hole in the London Wasps lineout to score.

But pre-season observations suggested that the breakdown would be a can of worms. Certainly many of the penalties awarded over the weekend came from that phase, but not as many as expected. Players know that they must stay on their feet and drive over the ball, and the greater number of offences involved side entry at ruck and maul.

If Harlequins seemed slow to come to grips with that area, Dean Richards, their director of rugby, believes it was more because they lacked set-piece ball in the first half and had to absorb greater pressure from Saracens. Whatever the laws, the chances are that the side forced to defend for longer periods will concede more penalties.

But those of us who feared the Premiership's first month would produce limited rugby will breathe more easily. There are some good minds at work within the domestic game and the signs are that they will make sense of the ELVs yet.