World Rugby have opted to banish tries against the post protector with immediate effect. The announcement will now mean tries will not be awarded by grounding the ball against the post protector.
RTE Sport report that the law change was approved on Tuesday after the World Rugby Council conducted a special meeting by conference call and it follows a recommendation by the international federations rugby committee as well as the Laws Review Group. The main reasoning behind the rule change is that it had become difficult for teams to defend the area especially in ruck areas.
The post has come to help many attackers out in the past with scoring tries. For instance CJ Stander’s try against England in 2018 at Twickenham when Ireland won 24-15.
In a statement World Rugby chairman, Bill Beaumont, who was re-elected to the role last week stated, “World Rugby’s mission is to make the game as simple, safe and enjoyable to play as possible. This law amendment reflects that mission”. Mr Beaumont continued, “By stipulating that an attacking team can no longer score against the post protector and therefore must ground the ball in-goal, this gives defending teams a fair chance of preventing a try from being scored.”
Law 8.2 in the rule book will now read:
The post protector is no longer an extension of the goal-line and therefore Law 8.2 (a) will read: A try is scored when the attacking player is first to ground the ball in the opponents’ in-goal.
