The World Rugby governing body – World Rugby has announced amendment in Law 8 to make it no longer be possible to score a try by grounding the ball against the post protector.
The changes were approved by the World Rugby Council during its special meeting held via teleconference.
Previously it’s been quite difficult to legally defend this kind of area as players were required to stay behind the goal-line and post-protector shape.
According to the statement released by World Rugby, “The amended law 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.“
The new developments are geared towards making Rugby “simple, safe and enjoyable” according to World Rugby Chairman Sir Bill Beaumont.
“World Rugby’s mission is to make the game as simple, safe and enjoyable to play as possible. This law amendment reflects that mission.
“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.”