Proposed Rule Changes

[MickeyD]

Some good ones...

Wellington - Rugby's television referees will be given wider powers under a series of rule changes that will be implemented later this year.

The amendments, which were announced on Tuesday by the International Rugby Board, will also set a 90-second limit for conversion attempts and restrict the amount of time the ball can be held at the back of a ruck.

The IRB says the changes will be implemented on a trial basis from August in the northern hemisphere and from January in the southern, applying at domestic and international level.

The most far-reaching of the changes concerns the powers given to television match officials, who will now be able to rule on foul play and on incidents which occur inside the field of play in the lead-up to a try.

Under current rules, TMOs can only rule on events which occur in-goal and in the act of scoring a try. They will now be able to advise the referee on incidents which may have occurred in the field of play in the lead-up to a try being scored.

TMOs will also be able to advise referees on incidents of foul play.

In other changes, conversion kicks will have to be completed within 90 seconds of a try being awarded.

At rucks, the ball will have to be used within five seconds of becoming available at the back of a ruck after the referee has instructed a team to "use it."

When the ball goes into touch from a knock-on, the non-offending team will have the choice of a lineout at the point the ball crossed the touchline or a scrum where the knock-on occurred.

Quick lineouts will be able to be taken by a player anywhere outside the field of play between the line of touch and the players' goal line. When a penalty or free kick is awarded at a lineout, the non-offending team will have the choice of a further lineout at which it will have the throw-in.

The TMO changes will be part of three specific additional tries implemented by the IRB and could be in operation in Test matches by November.

A trial has also been sanctioned for the November Test window which will allow international teams to nominate eight replacements in their match-day squad, rather than the current seven. The eighth player must be a qualified front-rower.

The law changes have come from recommendations of the IRB's independent Laws Representative Group, which comprises representatives from each of the 10 tier-one nations and the IRB Rugby Committee.

The IRB said extensive evaluation of the amendments had already taken place at Cambridge and Stellenbosch Universities.

"The Laws Representative Group were encouraged by the outcomes of the initial trials in Cambridge and Stellenbosch," IRB chairman Bernard Lapasset said. "The next step is a global trial with full buy-in and which has been approved by council on the basis that the amendments can have a positive effect on the playing of the game.

"The global trials are not fait accompli. It is essential at the end of the global trial process that decisions made are in the best interest of rugby worldwide."

http://www.sport24.co.za/Rugby/Rugby-TMO-to-get-more-power-20120516

 

[ClintX]

The most far-reaching of the changes concerns the powers given to television match officials, who will now be able to rule on foul play and on incidents which occur inside the field of play in the lead-up to a try

I sense very few tries will be scored now because if you analyse footage there are usually infringements of some sort in the build up to most tries.

In other changes, conversion kicks will have to be completed within 90 seconds of a try being awarded.

With TMOs adjudicating on on-field incidents before a try you are often going to have far longer than 90 seconds to set up anyway.

At rucks, the ball will have to be used within five seconds of becoming available at the back of a ruck after the referee has instructed a team to "use it."

I like this. It will stop that nasty habit of making removing the contest towards the end of a match when a team is leading and they just hold the ball at the back of the ruck over and over until time runs out and then kick it out.

When the ball goes into touch from a knock-on, the non-offending team will have the choice of a lineout at the point the ball crossed the touchline or a scrum where the knock-on occurred.

Fair enough. I would like to see them assess that ruling where the player stretches his foot over the touchline, or in goal area, and catches the ball, still infield, and the ball is called out. Not a fan of that.


More importantly than implementing new laws though, I think the IRB needs to ensure the current laws are blown consistently and accurately!

Another huge one I would have wanted to see is penalties at scrum time being done away with. They are at best an educated guess by the referee and at worst an outright guess! For a team to get 3 points given to them when even seasoned front rowers watching on TV can't pinpoint who was at fault is a farce. They should consider giving free kicks instead.

 

[SinghDude]

Interesting..... and its about time TMO's are used more .

 

[Ho3n3r]

The most far-reaching of the changes concerns the powers given to television match officials, who will now be able to rule on foul play and on incidents which occur inside the field of play in the lead-up to a try

I sense very few tries will be scored now because if you analyse footage there are usually infringements of some sort in the build up to most tries.

This will likely happen only after play is stopped, not while play is going on. This is in order to reduce the farce that is the current off-field yellow, as the victims do not gain anything from this.

In other changes, conversion kicks will have to be completed within 90 seconds of a try being awarded.

With TMOs adjudicating on on-field incidents before a try you are often going to have far longer than 90 seconds to set up anyway.

90 seconds on the clock, not 90 actual seconds in real-time. The clock is stopped during TMO/Assistant Referee discussions.

When the ball goes into touch from a knock-on, the non-offending team will have the choice of a lineout at the point the ball crossed the touchline or a scrum where the knock-on occurred.

Fair enough. I would like to see them assess that ruling where the player stretches his foot over the touchline, or in goal area, and catches the ball, still infield, and the ball is called out. Not a fan of that.

I agree - if any part of your body is still touching in-field, surely the lineout should go to the opposition, I really hope they revise this sometime soon. That, and the carrying the ball in-goal/into dead ball area while it's still moving, even though it's still out of the in-goal/dead ball area.

But I like most of these - neutral on some, but no bad ones.

 

[OrbitalDawn]

Only in January for us? Why the hell only then? I suppose they want to let current competitions finish with the current rules, but why not try it with the upcoming international matches and the four nations?

Glad to see TMO's being used more. So many obvious problems could be resolved within seconds if they can be consulted.

 

[Ho3n3r]

I believe the kicking rules should be changed overall, in terms of time. I think the clock should be stopped until action is taken, i.e. place kicks, the clock should be stopped as soon as a penalty or try is awarded, and only when a place kick has been placed on the ground, or the run-up to the touch line kick is started, should the clock go again.

The downside to that, I suppose, is time-wasting.

 

[ClintX]

90 seconds on the clock, not 90 actual seconds in real-time. The clock is stopped during TMO/Assistant Referee discussions.

Yip, what I meant is that if a decision is pending the kicker, if reasonably certain of the try, can already start setting up the ball and getting ready to kick.

 

[BobsLawnService]

"I like this. It will stop that nasty habit of making removing the contest towards the end of a match when a team is leading and they just hold the ball at the back of the ruck over and over until time runs out and then kick it out."

The problem is that this is another rule that is at the ref's discretion and allows them to dictate the match too much.

When does the ref have to say "Use it"? Can they force the play in such a way that will be disadvantageous to the attacking team because they are preparing for a set move?

How often do you see a team keeping the ball safe like this only to lose it due to some good counter-rucking?

 

[Mephisto_Helix]

They can't make an idiot throw a ball into a scrum straight but they want more technical babble laws ......... please.

 

[ClintX]

How often do you see a team keeping the ball safe like this only to lose it due to some good counter-rucking?

Very rarely when the team in possession has no intention of moving forward but merely to keep the ball out of play for 5 minutes. You cannot legally get your hands on the ball when it is situated behind a line of players who just want to keep it at the back.

 

[Devill]

The rules in general are good ut I agree that the refs should firstly be able to apply the current set of rules consistently and accurately.

 

[Ho3n3r]

Yip, what I meant is that if a decision is pending the kicker, if reasonably certain of the try, can already start setting up the ball and getting ready to kick.

Surely that's a good thing then - less time wasted.

A kicker cannot put the ball onto the tee before the try is awarded anyway, that's the rule.

 

[elysian]

They can't make an idiot throw a ball into a scrum straight but they want more technical babble laws ......... please.

I agree 100% on your scrum feed point! Had a chat to a Sharks supporter last week who was a hooker in his day and we agreed that the feeding of the scrums are BS these days - according to the laws.