The scrums match up during the Castle Lager Rugby Championship test match between South Africa and Australia held at Loftus Versfeld stadium in Pretoria on the 1st October 2016
Photo by: Dominic Barnardt/ RealTime Images
World Rugby scrum law to debut in Springboks vs Wallabies clash
There will be a slight change in rules as we know them when South Africa and Australia clash at Ellis Park on Saturday.
The scrums match up during the Castle Lager Rugby Championship test match between South Africa and Australia held at Loftus Versfeld stadium in Pretoria on the 1st October 2016
Photo by: Dominic Barnardt/ RealTime Images
World Rugby has announced that the amended scrum law will apply to the Rugby Championship matches this weekend when South Africa host the touring Australians in Johannesburg.
The change to the scrum law involves reducing the ‘axial’ or rotational load on front-row players on engagement.
In essence, the amendment outlaws the practice of front-rows placing their heads onto opposition players’ shoulders between the call of ‘bind’ and ‘set’ on engagement.
The motivation is to reduce the risk of injury at the scrum following the 2013 revision to the scrum engagement sequence, which has delivered a 25 percent reduction on compression forces.
World Rugby chairman Sir Bill Beaumont said:
“World Rugby is committed to an evidence-based approach to injury-prevention at all levels of the game, and the scrum has been at the forefront of that approach.
“This latest amendment to the scrum law, based on robust research, could have significant welfare benefits for front-row players at all levels.”
Bill Beaumont
African News Agency (ANA); Editing by Herman Gibbs
