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Cape Town - While most of the rugby world has its eyes focused on the lead-up to the Rugby World Cup, a trial of a number of new rugby regulations in Australia’s NRC over the next few months could change the shape of the global game significantly if they are adopted after the World Cup.
According to the supersport.com website, the new regulations - including the controversial 50-22 rule - are being trialled in the Australian competition to assess their impact on the overall structure of a match and if successful, plans are there to make it part of the game as soon as after the Rugby World Cup and even in Super Rugby from next season.
But will it really make the game better? Or will it take away some fundamental parts of a rugby game and inch it closer to rugby league in a manner that may do some irreversible damage to the global game that will take years to repair.
For a long time now, most law changes have focused on the safety aspect, with mixed results, and tinkering with the scrum set-up, position of props and players playing the ball in the air, as well as tackle height has been the primary concern from World Rugby.
Now, instead of trying to fix the mess that is the ruck in the modern game, the powers that be have decided to introduce new laws, and they will make a massive difference to the game we all love.
50-22 LAW
The first – namely the “50-22” law - will see an attacking team get the lineout if they kick the ball from their own half (50) and it rolls out in the opposition 22 metre area. At the moment the current law would see the defensive team get the lineout. The rule is an adaptation of Rugby League’s 40-20 law.
The second - one which will undoubtedly irk all the forwards reading this - is that if a player is held up over the goalline, the attacking team will lose the ball and it will become a dropout from the goalline for the defending team.
There are several other laws that will be trialled, including waste-high tackling techniques, the ability to review a yellow card when a player is in the sinbin to possibly upgrade it to a red if needed and the introduction of a penalty limit for teams - but few have taken the spotlight like the two mentioned above.
Already the 50-22 law has its critics, and understandably so. While any move closer to rugby league should raise some eyebrows, the trial law could well see the game becoming an aerial ping pong, with teams looking to exploit it and instead of attacking space, putting the ball into the corners to try and win a lineout. This would inevitably lead to a driving maul - the nightmare of all running rugby exponents and inevitably the argument is that we will see a lot more of these in the modern game.
But World Rugby believes the opposite will happen - that teams will leave players at the back to counter these kicks and this will open up attacking space on the flanks. While the argument may make sense, teams who opt for a low risk approach already leave players at the back for periods of time in the game, and this hasn’t automatically translated into the running festival of rugby World Rugby is hoping for.
There is a school of thought that with so many defences opting for a rugby league wall defence these days, there is less chance of clean breaks or the one-on-one contests to beat defenders, and this rule change will bring that about.
GOAL-LINE DROPOUT
The second proposed rule change - for attacking teams to lose the ball if they are held up over the line simply brings too many other variables into the equation, especially when it comes down to refereeing interpretation.
While it will kill teams’ appetite for the pick and go, a staple part of any tight forward’s resume, it will allow defences to fan out and stop potential wide movements, knowing that there won’t be a battering ram of attrition up front that will suck in defenders.
Plus, as we’ve seen so often nowadays, often the ball over the line call is left up to the television match official, and this can mean a shrill whistle can see teams lose the ball if they legitimately feel they have scored a try but it wasn’t seem on a replay.
Some of the other laws are also interesting. While the need to upgrade a yellow card to a red may seldomly be used, it will definitely put the referees under pressure to get their decisions right.
The lowering of the tackle height is not one that has gone down well, especially as it takes away some of the physicality of the contest, and has been criticised in several quarters. It will be very interesting to see how it is refereed.
World Rugby has said they are trialling these changes to improve player welfare and reduce injuries, as well as make the game more palatable for the masses. But with the ruck still the focus point of most irritations about the game, are they tinkering in the right place?
And will it actually make the game better and more attractive?
Only time will tell, but right now there is more than enough reason to feel concerned at what will transpire in the NRC in Australia.
