Gallagher Premiership confirms FIVE law changes for 2021/22 season

In addition to the new commitments to player welfare Premiership Rugby will be trialling a number of welfare-driven law trials:

50:22: This law trial is intended to create space via a tactical choice for players to drop out of the defensive line in order to prevent their opponents from kicking for touch, reducing impact of defensive line speed

Goal-line drop-out: This law trial is intended to reduce the number of scrums, reward good defence, encourage counter-attacking and increase the rate of ball in play

Pre-bound pods of players: Outlawing the practice of pods of three or more players being pre-bound prior to receiving the ball – the sanction will be a penalty kick

Sanctioning the lower limb clear-out: Penalising players who target/drop their weight onto the lower limbs of a jackler – the sanction will be a penalty kick

Tightening law relating to latching: One-player latch to be permitted, but this player has the same responsibilities as a first arriving player (i.e. must stay on feet, enter through gate and not fall to floor) – the sanction will be a penalty kick

For full details of the law trials click here

A panel of World Rugby Independent Concussion Consultants (ICC) will be also introduced into the Premiership to provide independent expert opinion on whether a player should return to play following a confirmed concussion and the successful completion of the six-stage Graduated Return to Play process for elite competitions.

From this season it will be mandatory for Premiership teams – in all competitions - to seek an ICC review if either, return to play is expected within or on the 10th day or reflecting the sport’s focus on an individualised approach to concussion management, a player is deemed as higher risk irrespective of the time taken to return.

For full details of the introduction of Independent Concussion Consultants click here