The Road to Re-imagining our Sport

Following their "Shape of the Game" conference in London in November, World Rugby have announced new law application guidelines from 1st January 2023 as a step on the road to "re-imagining our sport".

The conference included attendees from across the rugby community with players, coaches, referees, union CEOs and competition owners.

Nothing too radical amongst the guidelines, in fact, most are already seen in some jurisdictions or are clarifications of existing laws that perhaps need a little more consistency in application.

So what's included?

Kicking at goal - Following a try, the kicker must take the kick within 90 seconds (playing time) from when the try was awarded (even if the ball rolls over and has to be placed again), whilst the kicker has 60 seconds (playing time) to take a penalty kick from the time the team indicates their intention to kick at goal (again, even if the ball rolls over and has to be replaced).

Where games are televised, shot clocks will be displayed where possible, much like they already do in France.

In general play, World Rugby have now specified that a player "must not waste time", whilst teams must form the lineout without delay. When it comes to scrum time, teams now have 30 seconds to be ready to form a scrum when the mark has been made. Each of these have a sanction of free kick against the offending team.

There is also clarity provided around law definitions at the break down including what is off-feet and what is on-feet.

The full announcement on the guidelines is available here.