World Rugby Council members have rejected two proposed law trials at the latest council meeting in Dublin.
Proposals for a global trial to call a mark inside the 22-metre line from kick-offs, and to make teams play the ball after a maul has been stopped once, both failed to receive 75 per cent support in order to be passed through.
Four additional law trials have however been signed off to be introduced from January 1. The shot clock for conversions will now be 60 seconds rather than 90, the same time limit for penalty kicks, while line-outs will now have a 30-second setup time to match the setup time for scrums.
A play-on rule will also be introduced for uncontested line-outs when the throw is not straight – “if the non-throwing team does not lift a team-mate to compete for the ball, then play shall continue” – while extra protection will also be introduced for scrum-halves at scrums, rucks and mauls.
New rules around the ruck and maul now dictate that “a player who is, or was part of the ruck/maul may not play an opponent who is near it (within 1m), and who is attempting to play the ball away”.
Changes to the Television Match Official Protocol have also been introduced, giving the TMO “additional power to identify clear and obvious infringements in the final attacking passage of play before scoring (knock-on, forward pass and in touch) and in the within the final two phases specifically (offside, maul obstruction and tackle complete)”, which is the protocol currently in place for the autumn internationals.
A decision on whether to adopt the 20-minute red card rule permanently has been delayed until the end of the autumn internationals, “to enable further feedback and full data analysis to be considered”. Two 20-minute red cards were given last Sunday to Fiji’s Semi Radradra and Scotland’s Scott Cummings.
