Post pad tries will be no more after law change

Tue, May 12, 2020, 11:19 PM
Beth Newman
by Beth Newman

Tries will no longer be allowed to be scored on the post pads under a law change announced by World Rugby.

The international body released a statement after its Council Meeting saying that safety concerns were part of the reason for the decision.

With defenders required to stay in the in-goal and post protectors being larger because for player welfare, World Rugby deemed it was too difficult for teams to defend against this kind of scoring.

"World Rugby’s mission is to make the game as simple, safe and enjoyable to play as possible. This law amendment reflects that mission," chairman Bill Beaumont said.

"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, which had allowed for post pad tries, will now read: A try is scored when the attacking player is first to ground the ball in the opponents’ in-goal.

Tuesday's World Rugby Council meeting also included Uruguay for the first time after being appointed to the council late in 2019 having satisfied good governance criteria required by World Rugby.

The South American country follows Fiji, Samoa, Georgia, Russia and USA in joining the council under new governance structures introduced in recent years.

Share