World Rugby make five trial laws permanent

World Rugby on Thursday voted unanimously to adopt five welfare driven global trials into full law from 1 July.

The new laws mean that the upcoming women’s and men’s Rugby World Cups will feature the current package of global welfare-driven law trials including 50:22 and the goal line dropout.

With rugby united in its mission to be the most progressive sport on player welfare, said World Rugby in a statement, the package of five laws have all been approved with welfare advancement in mind and following a global trial period of one year where every player at all levels has been able to play under them and have their say. 

The scrum brake foot, trialed in this years’ Six Nations Championships, will move from a closed to global trial, meaning it will also feature at the men’s and women’s Rugby World Cups in 2022 and 2023.

World Rugby’s Laws Review Group and High Performance Rugby Committee made the recommendations to the World Rugby Council following detailed analysis of welfare and shape of the game data as well as feedback from the game, including players, coaches, match officials, medics and public.

All five trials were deemed to have positively enhanced both safety and spectacle and were unanimously approved by the World Rugby Council. They are:

•    50:22
•    Goal Line Drop Out 
•    Pre-Bound Pods of Players (or “Flying Wedge”)
•    Sanctioning of lower-limb clearout
•    Latching 

The Council also approved minor amendments to the laws to accommodate the rulings on law clarifications raised by member unions since 2020, adding clarity to the respective areas of law. 

For World Rugby’s full statement click here.