Rugby fans are going to have to make a few changes starting August 1st. World Rugby announced Wednesday the adoption of five new rules including the so-called “50/22”, which aims to free up space by concentrating more defenders in the back of the field.
According to this rule, the team which indirectly kicks in touch from its half of the field in the opposing 22 meters, or from its 22 meters in the opposing half of the field, will now have the throw in its favor.
New for the return to the goal line
Promoted in March 2019 during the symposium on the health of players in France, and tested in particular in Super Rugby, this new rule should allow a more offensive game by stripping the front defensive curtain. The team that does not have the ball is then obliged to reinforce its end of the field to avoid conceding a dangerous touch.
World Rugby, the international body which manages the sport and defines the rules, has also endorsed the rule concerning the return to the goal line. This forces a team that flattens in its in-goal to restart the game by a drop return made from its own end-line, while currently it can do it wherever it wants in its 22 meters.
Among the other rules adopted, one aims to protect the scraper in open scrums, by sanctioning clearings that target the lower limbs. Another rule punishes players forming a three-way mini-scrum to advance.