End The 50:22 Sideshow And Sort Subs And Scrum

Jeremy Guscott outspoken and unmissable...Every week

- Jeremy Guscott

What is the point of World Rugby considering making a new law change like the proposed 50:22 rule – which has been trialled in Australian club rugby – rather than looking at what is staring them in the face in terms of the urgent need to sort out substitutions and scrums?

These are areas that so blatantly require action that it is staggering that the World Rugby council are contemplating steering our 15-man game even further towards Rugby League when/if they meet in May.

The main aim of 50:22 is to open up more attacking space by depleting the defensive line, by copying the 40:20 kick in Rugby League, but my feeling is that it could end up doing neither.

The new 50:22 rule allows a team to throw into a line-out if they kick from behind halfway and bounce the ball into touch in the opposition 22, or, alternatively, if they kick from inside their own 22 and bounce it into touch beyond halfway.

This is aimed at speeding up the opportunity to make yardage, and at the same time force more opposition players to drop back to defend the kick, rather than being in the defensive line.

It is a tough skill to execute, but it will only take wingers and full-backs to cover it at the top level of the game – which is exactly what happens at the moment in terms of tactical kicking to the corners.

I don’t believe it will promote more attacking play anywhere near as much as reducing the number of subs – and while the 50:22 idea isn’t bad in itself, changes to the laws should be prioritised, and this is not a priority.