World Rugby will next month vote on various law changes, including reducing the impact of a red card, “enhanced protection” for scrumhalves and a “one-stop” maul.
On Tuesday, World Rugby proposed a series of law changes "aimed at enhancing both fan and player experience". A number of law changes were already trialled during the recently completed Rugby Championship.
“The proposed innovations align with World Rugby's mission to grow the sport's audience by making it more accessible and engaging, following the Shape of the Game forum held earlier this year,” World Rugby said in a statement.
“The proposed changes, which are being trialled across several international and domestic competitions (including WXV, Pacific Nations Cup and The Rugby Championship), are designed to enhance the viewing and playing experience by promoting faster play, reducing stoppages, and supporting accurate and consistent match officiating.”
The reduced punishment for a red card is one of the biggest proposed changes. When a team loses a player to a red card, they will be able to bring on a replacement after 20 minutes.
Mauls can only stop once before the team with the ball must play the ball out from the static maul. Scrumhalves will also more protection to clear the ball during scrums, rucks and mauls.
World Rugby said that in the trial games, playing time was "up by more than two minutes and 30 seconds, reaching more than 33 minutes per match" while matches took up to five minutes less to finish.
The World Rugby Council is due to vote on the changes on November 14.
"These trials demonstrate our commitment to making rugby as enjoyable as possible for audiences," said World Rugby chairman Billy Beaumont.
Additional reporting by AFP
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