New Zealand and Australia's rugby players might have to adapt to another set of rules when they play their Bledisloe Cup match in Hong Kong under the worldwide Experimental Law Variations (ELVs).

New Zealand had asked for the Nov. 1 match to be played under the rules introduced last month as part of a one-year international trial, Australian Rugby Union (ARU) chief executive John O'Neill said yesterday.

"It's fairly likely the game in Hong Kong will be played under the August 1 ELVs," O'Neill told reporters.

"We've been discussing it with our New Zealand friends and they're of the view that because it's the start of the spring tour for both sides, that for continuity, it would be better to use the same laws across all of those spring tour games.

"In the spirit of Anzac, we'll go along with it."

The Super 14 was played under one set of the International Rugby Board's (IRB) ELVs, after which the All Blacks and Wallabies played northern hemisphere opposition under the old rules.

The Tri-Nations, which also involves South Africa, was then played under another slightly modified set of ELVs.

The match in Hong Kong will be played under the rules being trialled in the northern hemisphere.

The main difference is that most infringements at the ruck and maul will be sanctioned with a penalty rather than a free-kick, which was used in the Super 14 and Tri-Nations.

The imposition of the free-kick made the game faster in southern hemisphere matches but it has been a major area of contention in Britain and France.

O'Neill, however, said the free-kick rules made the game more appealing to players and spectators.

He also said the ELVs used by the southern hemisphere countries in 2008 would continue for next year's Super 14 and Tri-Nations, before the IRB determines which ELVs to keep after the year-long, worldwide trial ends next August.