It has crept up almost without notice - not that the International Rugby Board went out of their way to publicise it - but the latest IRB conference on "playing the game" takes place this week in London.

An extremely high-powered set of delegates, including Test coaches and managers Clive Woodward, Rod Macqueen, Wayne Smith and Graham Henry, will be meeting between Wednesday and Friday (7-9 March) at the Lensbury Club.

The three-day agenda, under the stewardship of IRB technical committee chair, Syd Millar, will review and discuss the shape of the game, including the experimental Law changes (including at the line-out, tackle and scrum) that came in after the last such conference in Sydney in December 1999.

The most heated debate, according to sources, is likely to surround the tackle and post-tackle situations. The IRB have recently made public their concerns about the need to maintain worthwhile contest for the ball, and to preserve rugby's status as a game for all shapes and sizes.

Referees will be well represented, with the RFU's Steve Lander and Nick Bunting, Frenchman Joel Dumé and Australia's Andrew Cole among the attendees. After a controversial weekend in Super 12, there is certain to be a focus on getting all concerned to comply with existing Laws as they are written, with the usual debate over differences in interpretation and the IRB guidelines to referees.

But the conference is about playing the game, rather than refereeing, and Martin Johnson, the England captain, Argentine scrum-half Agustin Pichot, French lock Olivier Brouzet and former Wales captain Gwyn Jones, will help put the players' point of view.

Andy Robinson of England, Ireland coach Warren Gatland, Scotland's Ian McGeechan, Italy coach Brad Johnstone and Marcelo Loffreda of Argentina are also in attendance, with Wednesday's session kicking off with examination of the scrum and line-out, and tackle and post-tackle.

On Thursday, the line-out, ruck and maul, tackle and post-tackle are on the agenda. Friday will deal with obstruction - doubtless including discussion of the so-called "decoy runners" - and other issues on the contest for possession. The conference will conclude at 5pm that day.

The 1999 Sydney conference helped usher in the video referee and sin bin into international rugby, as well as the "use it or lose it" principle at a wheeling scrum.

The IRB stressed that any recommendations arising from what is described as "a forum for discussion" must then go before the general IRB meeting in Copenhagen at the end of the month.

Other delegates include new RFU performance director, Chris Spice, former France coach Pierre Villepreux, Wallaby performance manager Jeff Miller and World Cup-winning prop Ewen McKenzie, NZRFU chief executive David Rutherford, All Blacks team manager Andrew Martin and ex-All Black Murray Mexted.