New rugby laws
I READ on World Rugby’s online website that they have introduced a set of rules which will be trialled at various tournaments this year in a bid to improve player safety and reduce the risk of injuries.
Some of the new laws to be trialled are:
Reducing the tackle height to the waist in a bid to reduce injuries to both the tackled player and tackler while also encouraging more off-loads;
Teams will also have the opportunity to review yellow cards for players sent to the sin bin so that those guilty of dangerous foul play are rightly awarded a red card instead of a yellow;
50:22 kick — If the team in possession kicks the ball from inside their own half indirectly into touch inside their opponents’ 22 or from inside their own 22 into their opponents’ half, they will throw in to the resultant lineout;
The introduction of an infringement (penalty and free kick) limit for teams. Once a team has reached the limit, a mandatory yellow card is given to the last offending player as a team sanction; and
The awarding of a goal line dropout to the defending team when an attacking player, who brings the ball into in-goal, is held up.
Here at home (FT 14/1) Gareth Baber has seen the results of having multiple yellow cards in tournaments and has worked with his players on some techniques that will hopefully minimise and maybe end the problem. The current HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series champion received 12 yellow cards in two tournaments which was more than what they got on the 2018/2019 series.
Rules keep changing, it’s up to these guys at Rugby House to keep up and ensure that World Rugby new laws are implemented in our local tournaments.
I shudder to think if the yellow cardable infringements were revised to red cards.
ALLEN LOCKINGTON Kava Place, Lautoka