World Rugby has moved to clarify certain aspects of law and reinforced consistency of application among match officials.
At a meeting in April, the World Rugby Laws Representation Group (LRG) considered a number of areas of the game where it had been agreed that law amendments were not required but that current law was to be enforced more stringently by referees, assistant referees and television match officials.
The areas identified for specific mention were with the laws dealing with foul play (Law 10), the scrum (Law 20) and the maul (Law 17).
To assist with the explanation of exactly what the LRG has recommended a number of video clips have been compiled here and the RWC 2015 match officials have discussed at length the issues raised by those incidents while agreeing a consistent and accountable course of action.
Chairman of the LRG John Jeffrey said: “The eyes of the rugby-loving world will be on the Rugby World Cup later this year and, as always, there will be plenty of attention paid to the decisions of the match officials. The LRG has sought to clarify to players, coaches, media and spectators exactly what they can expect from referees in these key areas during the tournament.
“It was felt that law changes were not necessary in these areas but that referees needed to apply the current law more effectively in some cases.”