Rugby Union is set for some radical changes as we head into 2022.
Inspired by an article from Wales Online, we look into four major possible changes to the beautiful game.
#1. Eligibility
World Rugby has relaxed its eligibility rules to allow national team players to switch countries from January 2022.
Under the current regulations, a player is unable to switch national team once they have won a senior cap - and are thereafter tied to that country.
However, under the new rule change passed on Wednesday by more than 75% of the World Rugby council votes, international players such as England's Billy and Mako Vunipola could represent Tonga, as could New Zealand's Charles Piutau, who won the last of his 17 caps for the All Blacks in 2015, making him eligible to switch allegiance next year.
This also means that there is a possibility that in the 2022 Six Nations a player may represent a second country in the tournament.
From 1 January 2022, in order to transfer from one union to another under the revised regulation 8 (eligibility), a player will need to achieve the below criteria:
- The player must stand-down from international rugby for 36 months
- The player must either be born in the country to which they wish to transfer or have a parent or grandparent born in that country
- Under the revised regulation 8 criteria, a player may only change union once and each case will be subject to approval by the World Rugby Regulations Committee to preserve integrity
#2. Major Grassroots Changes
The 'Game On' principles introduced by World Rugby include 10 optional law changes - with unions free to pick and choose from them based on the context and suitability.
They include.
- reducing teams from 15-a-side to as few as 10-a-side, providing both teams have an equal number of players and have agreed to the changes beforehand
- reducing the length of the game from 80 minutes to as short as 40 minutes – with the ability to split matches into quarters or thirds
- reducing scrums to a minimum of five players for 10-a-side games
- allowing teams to agree not to contest or lift in lineouts
- allowing teams to agree that penalties and free-kicks can only be kicked to touch from inside a team’s half, or that all conversions are from in front of the posts
- introducing weight-based banding for matches in age-grade rugby and lower tackle-height
- allowing matches to be played on surfaces including sand, clay or snow - with 10-a-side matches to be played on half a pitch;
- permitting the use of smaller balls in certain matches or competitions
#3. Rugby 12's launching
A new international competition with new laws called World 12s has been launched with the aim of enabling the best male and female players to compete annually around the world.
The inaugural men’s tournament, which will be contested by teams containing 12 players, will be staged in England next August with the women’s event taking place for the first time a year later.
It is hoped that £250m will be generated by competition over the next five years, while also attracting fans.
#4. Brain Injury Fallout Expected
Rugby urgently needs to understand the long-term repercussions of brain trauma, which is why the publication of three new rugby concussion reports this week should be welcomed by the sport.
The following groups released the findings of their investigations
- The Drake Foundation have warned that 23% of elite rugby players have brain structure abnormalities due to head impacts
- The UK’s Department for Digital, Media, Culture and Sport (DCMS) has called for urgent government action addressing head injuries across a range of sports
- The RFU, PRL & RPA have announced a head impact management plan
These are the main findings of the new rugby concussion reports, and we'd expect significant change in 2022.
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