What is the new rugby offside law and why has rule changed for Six Nations 2022?
THE Six Nations is back next month and players have to be aware of a key rule change.
The offside law has had a slight tweak following England’s narrow loss to New Zealand in the Autumn Internationals back in 2018.
What is the new rugby offside law?
The change to rugby’s offside law is a subtle but exceptional one.
Rugby’s new rule states that the offside line at a ruck will no longer be based on the position of the “hindmost foot” but on the “hindmost point of any player from either team”.
The sport’s laws are not supposed to change in World Cup year, but the WRU decided that this change was necessary.
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Why has the rugby offside law changed?
The IRB were stung into action by England’s controversial defeat to the All Blacks.
With five minutes left and England 16-15 down, Sam Underhill scored a try but saw it controversially disallowed.
The law stated that the offside line ran “through the ruck participants’ hindmost foot” but the explanation described it as being “the hindmost foot of the player of the same team”.
The first definition was used at Twickenham, meaning the offside law was set by the foot of All Blacks prop Ofa Tu’ungafasi and not England’s George Ford.
That meant Courtney Lawes, who charged down the New Zealand kick, was offside.
Following this, a clarification was issued on the exact definition of the law.