Rugby Union Law Changes

World Rugby, the governing body for the sport of rugby, has introduced some new laws to the game. Two of these are the 50:22 kick rule and the goal line drop out rule. The aim of these new rules is to encourage a faster pace of play.

50:22 Kick 

Previous law stated that when a team kicks the ball into touch, the opposing team wins the throw-in (unless, of course, the ball was kicked into touch via a penalty). 

The 50:22 Kick rule, however, is somewhat different. It awards the kicking team the throw-in when it achieves both the following: 

1. The ball is kicked from the kicker’s half into the opposing team’s 22. 
2. The ball bounces at least once before it goes over the touch line. 

The purpose of the rule is to force more defenders into the back field and thus creating a bigger space for attack. 

Goal Line Drop Out 

With this rule, the defending team now dropkicks the ball from their goal line in the following instances:

1. the attacking player holding the ball is held up in the defenders’ in-goal area
2. an attacking player commits a knocks-on in the defending team’s in-goal area.
3. an attacking kick is grounded by a defender in the in-goal area

Here, the aim is to allow a quicker restart and give more opportunities in counterattack. That said, it may prove unpopular with scrummagers.

Rugby Union put these laws on trial from August 1st, 2021.

Rugby Union Law Changes – Word Frequency

Vocabulary List