The new rules in France that could rescue rugby Alex Lowe , Deputy Rugby Corresp

[Heathen]

The new rules in France that could rescue rugby
Alex Lowe
Deputy Rugby Correspondent
Wednesday March 18 2020, 5.00pm, The Times

This time last year, World Rugby was holding a symposium in Marcoussis, France’s training centre south of Paris, to generate ideas aimed at making rugby safer and more of a spectacle. The three-day forum concluded with a package of law trials that could radically change the way the game is played before the 2023 World Cup.

The headline initiative that emerged from discussions between international coaches, players, referees, club representatives, doctors and sports scientists was the 50-22 kick, an adaptation of rugby league’s 40-20, which has since been trialled in Australia’s National Rugby Championship (NRC). More on that later.

The most emotive of the agreed innovations — and potentially the most significant to the fabric of the game as we know it — were those lowering the height of a legal tackle from the armpit to the waist and prohibiting double tackles.

The French Rugby Federation (FFR), rocked by four deaths from on-field incidents over the previous year, proposed that the new tackle laws be tested in Federale 2, the fourth tier of French club rugby. Twelve months on and the initial analysis suggests that the trial has been delivering on World Rugby’s aims, delivering a positive impact on player safety and a more expansive game.

The key findings from the first half of the season were a 60 per cent drop in the number of head impacts and a threefold reduction in match injuries plus a 31 per cent increase in line breaks and a 67 per cent decrease in the amount of kicking.

World Rugby described the early results as “compelling” but that was not an immediate green light for change. The sport’s governing body has also made a commitment to preserve rugby’s DNA as a game of skill and physicality for all shapes and sizes. Where, though, is the line?

First, the rationale behind the FFR’s tackle proposal 12 months ago. There was an urgency in France to take action. Roxana Maracineanu, the French minister for sport, addressed the conference and called for change.

Her message reinforced what Bernard Laporte, president of the FFR, said after the death of Nicolas Chauvin, the 18-year-old Stade Francais flanker. “Our game has to fundamentally evolve so that rugby becomes a game of movement and avoiding collisions,” Laporte said. “With that it’s important to change the mentality of players and change the laws, most notably to do with tackling.”

World Rugby’s research shows that the tackle is responsible for 50 per cent of all injuries and 76 per cent of all concussions, with the defender the most at risk by a ratio of 3:1.

Statistically, the tackle with the greatest risk of injury is when the defender hits the ball-carrier upright, front on and with force. The intention of the FFR’s proposal was to remove the players’ heads from the same airspace.

One other key element of the trial was that the ball-carrier would be penalised for ducking into contact or leading with the head. It was considered near impossible for a defender to tackle a bent ball-carrier below the waist without going for the knees.

As one expert described it, if tackles above the sternum were red on the danger scale in terms of head injury risk for the defender, tackles below the upper thigh were orange. Forcing tacklers to target knees would also increase the risk of serious injury to the ball carrier. The FFR trial therefore focused on keeping the ball carrier upright and the defender bent at the waist, opening up the green zone around the midriff for the tackler to aim at.

Those measures led to a 60 per cent drop in the number of head impacts in Federale 2, down from an average of 9.8 per game in 2018-19 to four this season. The clubs also reported a stark reduction in match injuries, from an average of one per game in 2018-19 to one every three games.

Seventy per cent of clubs adapted to the new trials by introducing specific training. There was an initial spike in the number of penalties being awarded for high tackles but that began to fall in December and January.

At the same time, teams began to recognise the attacking opportunities open to them, given how hard it had become for defenders to prevent the offload.

There has been a 31 per cent increase in line breaks, a 16 per cent increase in passing and a 67 per cent decrease in the amount of kicking.

The number of offloads from a tackle increased from 6.7 per cent in September-October 2018 to 8.7 per cent over the same months in 2019. It then leapt to 11.2 per cent in December and January as teams began to recognise the value of keeping the ball alive.

While the number of offloads tracked upwards over those three windows, the number of kicks decreased from 16 in September-October 2018 to 14 last autumn and then down to just six in December and January.

The number of scrums remained stable but with fewer kicks there were fewer lineouts, down 21 per cent. One observer felt the ruck had improved as a contest because the tackler was not able to interfere with the ball placement.

There are doubts in some quarters whether these innovations will make it to the adult elite game. The required combination of waist-high tackles and upright carriers would endanger some fundamental elements of the game, such as the pick-and-go and a low drive for the line.

World Rugby is keeping an open mind. It described the early statistical feedback as positive but more research is required. The trials would likely need to be run in an elite competition before they could be considered for introduction into full law.

Australia’s NRC, meanwhile, hosted three trials, including the 50-22 kick. If Team A kicks from their own half and the ball bounces into touch inside Team B’s 22, it is Team A who now get the lineout.

The intention is to create more space in the front line and reduce the number of head-on collisions because Team B would have to drop players into the back-field to cover the kick for touch.

There were 14 50-22 kicks in the NRC and three of them led to a try as a result of the subsequent lineout possession. The Australian competition was already high-scoring and the initiative did not lead to an increase in tries. There was a slight reduction in the overall amount of kicking, even though the trial also included a 50-22 kick.

The NRC also hosted a trial whereby the defence was rewarded with a goalline drop-out if the ball carrier was held up over the line in attempting to score a try. Presently, the team in possession get the put-in at a five-metre scrum.

[Sting]

"Our game has to fundamentally evolve so that rugby becomes a game of movement and avoiding collisions"

Then it should be called something else because it won't be rugby.