How to attract new licensees?
By allowing each country, each federation to choose the rules that best suit the expectations of its population.
In any case, this is the conclusion made by World Rugby.
The umbrella body unveiled “
Game on Global
”
on
Tuesday
.
This program relax the rules among amateurs.
Each federation will in fact be able to choose from among ten variants of the regulations the one it wishes to apply in its competitions.
From January 1, this flexibility will apply.
“
A set of ten variants is now available for all federations
,” says World Rugby.
The implementation of the variant rules of the game will be centrally monitored and a global research project will assess the impacts in terms of injury prevention and participation.
“Because it is also about making the practice less accident-prone.
"Competitions based on weight rather than age can help retain players."
World Rugby
The rules concerned? The number of players per team (from 10 to 15); the duration of the matches (from 40 to 80 minutes) and its division (half-time, third-time, quarter-time); the dimensions of the land; the size of the balloon; management of the bench with "
rotating substitutes
" which allow players to return to the playing field if they are not injured. Another novelty, which should be very beneficial to the safety of matches, groupings by weight category, rather than age, as is already practiced in New Zealand. “
In some countries where the level of multiculturalism is higher and where challenges such as risk perception and the transition of players from school rugby to senior rugby arise, weight-based competitions can help retain players.
“, Justifies World Rugby.
The height of the tackle will also be determined by each federation.
From the shoulder line, to the nipple line or at the height of the waist.
In France, amateurs have already been experimenting since 2019 with new tackling rules: lowering the tackle line at the waist, prohibiting two simultaneous tackling, obligation for the ball carrier to stand up straight before impact ... “
This measure has been successfully tested in South Africa and France.
It can lead to more passes, more moving balls and a reduction in concussions,
”says World Rugby.
No longer replay scrums
This system of “
à la carte
”
rules
also makes it possible to set up specific areas of play, such as the scrum.
“
The teams can reduce the number of participants in a closed scrum: 5 participants minimum for a team of 10/11 players, 6 participants for a team of 12/13 players…
”.
It could also be decided that the scrums will not be contested, without push therefore.
If the scrum is not successful, “
it is recommended that play be restarted with a free kick in favor of the team which introduced the ball
”.
In order to avoid the multiplication of replayed scrums.
