Handover of possession ruling to remain in

THE RFL Board has ratified recommendations from the RFL Laws Committee for the 2021 season.

The Laws Committee held a virtual meeting recently and received presentations regarding the Covid pandemic and head contact and concussion.

The committee also heard from NRL Head of Elite Competitions

Graham Annesley about the new laws to be introduced in the NRL competition for 2021.

The emergency law introduced for the restart of the 2020 season in July, in response to the situation regarding Covid-19 – removing scrums and replacing them with a handover of possession – will be retained (with the shot clock application removed).

However the situation will be kept under review, and the hope is that the emergency law will be removed, and that scrums will return, before the end of the 2021 season – certainly at Betfred Super League level, given the need to prepare players for the Rugby League World Cup in the autumn (with Rugby League’s International Laws still including scrums).

In addition, six law changes for 2021 have been recommended and approved, which will be applied at all levels of the game. These changes include flexibility for the attacking team on the lateral positioning of scrums; a reward for 20/40 Kicks; a handover of possession for an incorrect play-the-ball; and the removal of scrums when the ball goes into touch.

The Laws Committee considered, but rejected, two further law changes that have been introduced by the NRL for 2021: extending the ‘Six Again’

Law that was introduced in 2020 for ruck offences, to include 10-metre offside infringements; and awarding two points for drop goals kicked from outside the 40-metre line.

Dave Rotheram, the RFL’s chief on-field officer, said: “Thanks are due to the members of the RFL’s Laws Committee, which comprises a range of experts from all sections of the game, and also to Graham Annesley, who attended the meeting and explained the background to the law changes introduced by the NRL in 2020 and 2021.

“The RFL have been keen to achieve as much consistency as possible between the laws applied in both hemispheres, both in domestic competitions and through the international laws.

“A greater degree of harmonisation was achieved through the law changes introduced for the resumption. The

adoption of ‘Six Again’ for instance – and that process will continue with the law changes introduced for 2021.

“However we remain unconvinced by the arguments for introducing a two-point drop goal, believing this to be a fundamental change in the laws of the game which could have unintended consequences in discouraging teams from seeking to score tries, especially late in each half.

“The Laws Committee were also not persuaded of the merits of extending ‘Six Again’ to cover 10-metre offside infringements.

“Regarding scrums, medical and scientific evidence was the key, as when the initial decision was made to suspend them for the restart of the 2020 season.

“With Covid-19 remaining prevalent in society, their reintroduction could present additional risk to the health of the players, and would significantly increase the number of close contacts in a match which could lead to more postponements.

“Therefore the decision was made to maintain the position as at the end of 2020 for the start of the 2021 season. However the Laws Committee agreed that the public health situation should be kept under constant review, and that scrums should be reintroduced as soon as possible – with the expectation that scrums will remain in the international laws and therefore feature in the Rugby League World Cup in the autumn.

“The committee agreed that scrums could be reintroduced to certain parts of the game and not others, again depending on the public health situation.”