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The ARC will use the Stellenbosch Laws to speed up the game and rather run the ball than kick the ball. Here is just a brief explanation of the law changes:
Known as the “Stellenbosch Laws”, after the South African University where they were initially devised and trialled, the laws are already under the microscope in the Brisbane club competition and have received glowing reviews.
While a larger number of law changes are being trialled in the UK, just eight are being tested in Australia.
Former International rugby referee and now Referee Manager with the Australian Rugby Union Peter Marshall says the aim is to keep the ball in play for longer periods.
“What they’re trying to achieve is to make the game easier to play and to make the game easier to understand for spectators, making it more enjoyable,” Peter Marshall said.
“If you take a lot of the penalty kicks out of the game, it will let the players decide the outcome, not the officials,” he said.
Among the law changes being trialled is a discouragement of having the ball thrown back inside the 22 metres.
If the ball is passed or run back inside the 22 metre line and then kicked out of play on the full, then a line-out will be formed from where the ball was kicked, rather than where it crossed the touch line - This has the effect of encouraging more running of the ball rather than seeking relief from a kick into touch.
Under the changes there is no maximum number of players in a lineout, but a minimum of two.
Every player not in a scrum, with the exception of the scrum half are required to stand no closer than five metres from the hindmost foot of the scrum.
This law change is aimed at promoting more space and therefore more open play.
As any law changes need ratification by the International Rugby Board through the national unions, they would not be introduced permanently before 2008.