New Player welfare rugby laws in time for the Men’s and Women’s Rugby World Cups

Rugby has recently been enjoying a period of growth at all levels, from community rugby to professional club rugby, and in all aspects of the game from national unions and commercial partnerships to its global reach and fan base. A recent launch of rugby in Sogndal (rural Norway) highlights just how much the game’s appeal is spreading and advancing across the globe. The popularity of the women’s game has grown hugely, simultaneously. Of the current 9.3m rugby players globally, 28% of those players are women. Rugby sevens had a successful debut at the Rio games in 2016 and continues to be an Olympic sport. During this era of growth in rugby, and alongside the exponential growth in accredited officials, coaches, medics and trainers globally, there is a resolute focus on player welfare standards. Not only this, but player welfare is the number one priority for World Rugby in conjunction with its target of rugby being a global sport for all by 2025.

World Rugby is committed to a continued open discussion with all its stakeholders about how player welfare can be advanced. In July 2021, World Rugby announced a package of global law trials focused on improving the welfare of the men’s game, and on 12 May 2022, the World Rugby Council voted unanimously to adopt all five trials which became full laws of the game in July 2022. The five new welfare-driven rugby laws will feature in the upcoming men’s and women’s Rugby World Cups:

50-22: which creates space via a tactical choice for players to drop out of the defensive line in order to prevent their opponents from kicking to touch, reducing impact of defensive line speed;
Goal-line drop out: which has the intention of reducing the number of scrums, reward good defence, encourage counter-attacking and increase the rate of ball in play;
Pre-bound pods of players: which bans 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: which penalises players who target/drop their weight onto the lower limbs of a tackler. The sanction will be a penalty kick; and
Tightening the law relating to latching: a one player latch is allowed, but this player has the same responsibilities as a first arriving player (i.e., must stay on their feet, enter through the gate and not fall to the floor). The sanction will be a penalty kick.

World Rugby Chairman Sir Bill Beaumont said: “Rugby’s laws are fundamental to its accessibility, appeal and safety. It is our mission to ensure that the laws are the best that they can be for everyone playing the game and the approval of these laws following detailed evaluation and widespread consultation, underscores that commitment.”

World Rugby Chief Player Welfare and Rugby Services Officer Mark Harrington added:” These new laws reflect the sport’s united and unwavering intent when it comes to protecting players at all levels. Each new law has been developed with the input of experts and reflects an evidence-based approach to reducing higher-risk behaviours by changing the nature of the contact area of the game or reducing overall contact in a game situation.”

In addition to the advancements made with regards to player welfare in men’s rugby, in October 2021, World Rugby also established a dedicated women’s player welfare steering group committed to progressing player welfare for women’s rugby at all levels. Chaired by Dr Araba Chintoh, the diverse thirteen-person steering group will focus on the following aspects of women player welfare going forward:

Building the knowledge base with specific research into concussion, women’s health, mental well-being and wearable technology;
Improving injury surveillance studies;
Obtaining a bespoke performance analysts to track the game;
Engage the women’s game better in the law review process; and
Determine technical and medical interventions for the women’s game.

The game of rugby and specifically women’s rugby is uniquely poised. The game appeals to an increasing number of women at all levels, indicating it is a sport that has a huge potential for growth in the years to come. As World Rugby has set itself the target of becoming the most progressive sport with regards to player welfare, as well as a global sport for all by 2025, World Rugby is right to invest in women’s rugby with these key advancements.

If you would like to learn more about this topic or sports law, please contact:

Minni Jokipii on minni@meadowsryan.com or tel: +44 (0) 7771922170.