IF YOU HAVEN’T watched Rassie Erasmus and his Springboks coaches’ series of videos on the shape of the game that were released early this year, you’ve missed out.
As they sipped on various fine wines at a Stellenbosch winery, the South African brain trust ran through their feelings on how rugby is being played today, using clips on a big screen to make their points more clearly.
The videos were opulently produced and entertaining. The key theme Rassie and his assistants – including Felix Jones and ex-international referee Jaco Peyper – wanted to get across was their inherent belief that rugby needs to guard the core principle of ‘contest’ in every element of the game.
They dedicated a big chunk of one episode in the three-part series to the maul. Again, the underlying message was the need to keep this part of the game as a genuine contest that is true to the principles of the game and the actual laws as they are written.
This was all ahead of World Rugby’s shape of the game meetings in London in February. Though the governing body said there would be no law changes after that conference, there was later confirmation of a new ‘law application guideline‘ around the maul.
Basically, there is a big focus on tidying up the maul when defending players are on the ‘wrong’ side of it. Defenders often end up in awkward-looking positions at the back end of mauls. They now need to get out and re-enter from their team’s side of the maul.
Felix Jones during the Springboks coaches' discussion of mauls. Smash SportsSmash Sports
These kinds of guidelines and directives might not be actual law changes, but they can alter the shape of the game. The clampdown on kick escorting in November 2024 didn’t involve a law change, but it drastically changed rugby.
It remains to be seen if this new guideline around the maul has a similar effect, but the sense is certainly that big, powerful, accurate mauling teams will have far better conditions for success in this area. Most coaches expect more mauls and more penalties against defenders, although there is a hope that referees will assess attacking mauls with the same scrutiny.
Rassie and co. are undoubtedly happy. Some of the same clips the Springboks used in their discussion of the maul before the World Rugby conference were used in World Rugby’s official video included with the new guideline issued in May.
They’re pleased in French rugby too, having gone down this route already with a law trial in the Top 14 season that just ended.
So what exactly are World Rugby hoping to see with this new guideline?
Basically, if a defender in a maul gets beyond the ball and/or into a pulling/dragging position, they need to immediately leave the maul.
“Once a player loses dominance and moves to be in a position to drag or pull, they should remove themselves from the contest or will be liable to sanction,” reads part of the guideline.
Referees have been asked to ‘manage’ this, then use penalty sanctions to deter players from doing it again.
Once a defending player has left the maul, they are still entitled to come back around onto their team’s side and rejoin by binding onto their hindmost team-mate in the maul.
So the real key is that defenders cannot end up in a position to pull or drag the maul.
An image from World Rugby's clips for this new guideline. World RugbyWorld Rugby
Anyone who watches rugby will be familiar with this kind of sight. It looks a bit odd, and sometimes you’re left wondering how a defender even got into the position on what looks like the ‘wrong’ side of the maul, where they’re hanging off the back-end of the maul.
The guideline reiterates that maul defenders need to be genuinely bound.
It has been underlined that being ‘bound’ means with the whole arm in contact from hand to shoulder. In many recent instances, defending players have not been bound with their shoulders.
World Rugby hope the maul will become easier to referee, manage, and explain to fans.
This new guideline kicked in from 1 June, so it applies to all upcoming international rugby, including the Nations Championship.
This timeline means we already have an international game to look at for examples, with the Springboks having played the Barbarians two weekends ago.
So let’s have a look at an example of the new guideline in play.
The Boks win their lineout, with the Barbarians unsuccessfully competing in the air, which leaves them vulnerable to the well-organised South African maul.
We can see that Barbarians flanker Guido Petti ends up in a position on the side of the maul where he is not pushing or driving. His shoulders are no longer in contact with the maul either, so he’s not bound.
In the past, this might have been entertained, but with the new guideline fresh in his mind, referee Morné Ferreira manages Petti away.
“OK, six out,” says Ferreira, “you’re dragging. Out.”
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Petti reacts by releasing his left arm, which has been doing the dragging, and dipping to try and get into a pushing position with a genuine bind.
As we see above, he and prop Oli Kebble drive up and out of the maul, albeit taking one Springbok with them.
The Boks continue to move forward at relatively high speed, so Barbarians lock Franco Molina attempts to get up towards the ball in a bid to kill the maul.
The new guideline from World Rugby additionally states that “any player bound on the outside of the maul may contest possession with their other arm, or may continue pushing/driving on the maul, but must not be in a position to pull/drag the maul.”
Molina isn’t really fully bound on the outside of the maul in the moment above, and while he’s attempting to contest possession with his other arm, Ferreira isn’t happy with how he got there.
World Rugby’s guidelines stress that players can’t “swing up, or round, the side” of the maul, which is seemingly what the referee feels has happened here.
“No, out,” Ferreira tells Molina, who reacts instantly by releasing his right arm and then stepping out of the maul.
Next up for the Barbarians is their other lock, Izack Rodda, who knows that they’re in last resort territory as the Boks continue to move forward.
Rodda swims his way towards the ball by reaching his arms forward in several different swoops.
This results in Ferreira indicating a penalty advantage to the Boks.
And he blows his whistle as soon as Rodda ends up in the position below, where he is trying to drag the ball back towards the Boks’ tryline rather than pushing.
We can see Rodda in action below.
Ferreira explains the decision.
“Swimming around the side, and then dragging. You guys are dragging around the side, not pushing anymore.”
There’s a look of resignation from Rodda here, before he actually nods, indicating that he understands Ferreira’s decision.
We’ve heard referees giving penalties for swimming up the side plenty in the recent past, but mention of ‘dragging’ is certainly different in this context.
The Springboks kick their penalty into touch 10 metres from the Barbarians’ tryline and immediately go back to the maul.
Again, the Barbarians contest in the air unsuccessfully and their appeals for a crooked throw are ignored.
The Boks snap into strong mauling shape after winning the lineout and their cohesive power begins to trundle the maul forward.
As soon as Barbarians back rows Miracle Faiʻilagi and Petti end up in the position below, they’re managed away by Ferreira.
“Eight, out. Six, out,” roars Ferreira, and they heed his warning.
The referee then turns his attention to Kebble and hooker Elliot Dee, who have ended up in the positions below, from where they can only drag.
“Out,” is the simple warning from Ferreira.
Meanwhile, the Boks have splintered to their left and continue to drive forward at speed.
Molina attempts to slow them by clearly dragging at a jersey as the Boks thunder past him.
Thereafter, Petti and openside flanker Lachlan Boshier get into the dragging positions we see below.
It’s at this point that Ferreira loses patience. He signals a penalty advantage to South Africa.
“Advantage, dragging again,” he says.
But the Boks are already on their way to finishing their potent maul try through hooker JJ Kotze.
As they cross those final couple of metres, we can see Rodda resignedly releasing his bind and putting his hands in the air, probably keen not to risk a yellow card.
The Barbarians have run out of resistance and the Boks score.
Two dominant Springboks mauls carry them over for a try from 35 metres out, with the Barbarians struggling hugely to even slow them down.
It’s worth pointing out that an invitational team like the Barbarians will often struggle with things like organised maul defence, but the demands that are now placed on defenders to be squeaky clean are also clear.
Maul defence will need to be much tidier moving forward, with seemingly no tolerance for players hanging out in positions that used to look odd but had become acceptable in top-level rugby.
Interestingly, the Springboks didn’t focus on their maul as an attacking weapon in this game against the Barbarians aside from the two instances above. Having done damage there in a brief flurry, they moved away from mauling.
But we can safely assume that they and other big, heavy packs like France and England will be putting even more focus on this part of the game in this window.
Ireland forwards coach Paul O’Connell is someone who will have been spending lots of time considering what the new maul guideline means, so it made sense to ask for his view in Sydney ahead of Saturday’s clash with the Wallabies.
“I think teams will probably maul more, and I think there’ll be more penalties at the maul,” said O’Connell.
“I think some of them will probably be unfair penalties. I think players will probably do a really good job at defending a maul. They’ll end up where they’re quite dominant, and they’ll end up being put offside because they’re dominant.
“And if the referee decides to ping someone straight away and doesn’t manage that player out, I think you could end up with some unfair penalties. But it’s the same for everyone and we all have to learn to deal with it.
“It’s going to be tricky while we all figure it out at the start. But France have been doing it for a year now. I’ve spoken to Donnacha Ryan a little bit about it and he said you just get on with it and you figure it out.
“You accept that there might be one or two more penalties than you’re used to. You try and coach the players hard to not have to be told to get out, to realise I’ve probably gone too far here and get out and get on to the other side.
“It’s going to be a challenge and hopefully with the work we’ve done, we can navigate that challenge while everyone is figuring it out at the start.”
One of O’Connell’s key forwards, second row James Ryan, isn’t convinced that the new guideline will drastically change the picture for Ireland.
He feels that Ireland’s existing method of defending mauls will have them in good shape to deal with the different refereeing focus.
“I wouldn’t say it’s a massive change for us,” said Ryan.
“Some teams like England, they like sweeping around the maul almost just holding you in and dragging you back, whereas our maul D would be more north-south, trying to keep the weight in front, as opposed to creeping up the sides. So hopefully, it’ll be good for us.
“But I think you’ll see teams going for the lineout drive more now because if refs are going to be more pedantic around guys creeping up the side and giving away penalties, I think teams will look to take advantage of it.
“It’s not a bad thing for me as a lineout forward.”
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'More mauls, more penalties' - The big change that Rassie wanted
IF YOU HAVEN’T watched Rassie Erasmus and his Springboks coaches’ series of videos on the shape of the game that were released early this year, you’ve missed out.
As they sipped on various fine wines at a Stellenbosch winery, the South African brain trust ran through their feelings on how rugby is being played today, using clips on a big screen to make their points more clearly.
The videos were opulently produced and entertaining. The key theme Rassie and his assistants – including Felix Jones and ex-international referee Jaco Peyper – wanted to get across was their inherent belief that rugby needs to guard the core principle of ‘contest’ in every element of the game.
They dedicated a big chunk of one episode in the three-part series to the maul. Again, the underlying message was the need to keep this part of the game as a genuine contest that is true to the principles of the game and the actual laws as they are written.
This was all ahead of World Rugby’s shape of the game meetings in London in February. Though the governing body said there would be no law changes after that conference, there was later confirmation of a new ‘law application guideline‘ around the maul.
Basically, there is a big focus on tidying up the maul when defending players are on the ‘wrong’ side of it. Defenders often end up in awkward-looking positions at the back end of mauls. They now need to get out and re-enter from their team’s side of the maul.
These kinds of guidelines and directives might not be actual law changes, but they can alter the shape of the game. The clampdown on kick escorting in November 2024 didn’t involve a law change, but it drastically changed rugby.
It remains to be seen if this new guideline around the maul has a similar effect, but the sense is certainly that big, powerful, accurate mauling teams will have far better conditions for success in this area. Most coaches expect more mauls and more penalties against defenders, although there is a hope that referees will assess attacking mauls with the same scrutiny.
Rassie and co. are undoubtedly happy. Some of the same clips the Springboks used in their discussion of the maul before the World Rugby conference were used in World Rugby’s official video included with the new guideline issued in May.
They’re pleased in French rugby too, having gone down this route already with a law trial in the Top 14 season that just ended.
So what exactly are World Rugby hoping to see with this new guideline?
Basically, if a defender in a maul gets beyond the ball and/or into a pulling/dragging position, they need to immediately leave the maul.
“Once a player loses dominance and moves to be in a position to drag or pull, they should remove themselves from the contest or will be liable to sanction,” reads part of the guideline.
Referees have been asked to ‘manage’ this, then use penalty sanctions to deter players from doing it again.
Once a defending player has left the maul, they are still entitled to come back around onto their team’s side and rejoin by binding onto their hindmost team-mate in the maul.
So the real key is that defenders cannot end up in a position to pull or drag the maul.
Anyone who watches rugby will be familiar with this kind of sight. It looks a bit odd, and sometimes you’re left wondering how a defender even got into the position on what looks like the ‘wrong’ side of the maul, where they’re hanging off the back-end of the maul.
The guideline reiterates that maul defenders need to be genuinely bound.
It has been underlined that being ‘bound’ means with the whole arm in contact from hand to shoulder. In many recent instances, defending players have not been bound with their shoulders.
World Rugby hope the maul will become easier to referee, manage, and explain to fans.
This new guideline kicked in from 1 June, so it applies to all upcoming international rugby, including the Nations Championship.
This timeline means we already have an international game to look at for examples, with the Springboks having played the Barbarians two weekends ago.
So let’s have a look at an example of the new guideline in play.
The Boks win their lineout, with the Barbarians unsuccessfully competing in the air, which leaves them vulnerable to the well-organised South African maul.
We can see that Barbarians flanker Guido Petti ends up in a position on the side of the maul where he is not pushing or driving. His shoulders are no longer in contact with the maul either, so he’s not bound.
In the past, this might have been entertained, but with the new guideline fresh in his mind, referee Morné Ferreira manages Petti away.
“OK, six out,” says Ferreira, “you’re dragging. Out.”
Petti reacts by releasing his left arm, which has been doing the dragging, and dipping to try and get into a pushing position with a genuine bind.
As we see above, he and prop Oli Kebble drive up and out of the maul, albeit taking one Springbok with them.
The Boks continue to move forward at relatively high speed, so Barbarians lock Franco Molina attempts to get up towards the ball in a bid to kill the maul.
The new guideline from World Rugby additionally states that “any player bound on the outside of the maul may contest possession with their other arm, or may continue pushing/driving on the maul, but must not be in a position to pull/drag the maul.”
Molina isn’t really fully bound on the outside of the maul in the moment above, and while he’s attempting to contest possession with his other arm, Ferreira isn’t happy with how he got there.
World Rugby’s guidelines stress that players can’t “swing up, or round, the side” of the maul, which is seemingly what the referee feels has happened here.
“No, out,” Ferreira tells Molina, who reacts instantly by releasing his right arm and then stepping out of the maul.
Next up for the Barbarians is their other lock, Izack Rodda, who knows that they’re in last resort territory as the Boks continue to move forward.
Rodda swims his way towards the ball by reaching his arms forward in several different swoops.
This results in Ferreira indicating a penalty advantage to the Boks.
And he blows his whistle as soon as Rodda ends up in the position below, where he is trying to drag the ball back towards the Boks’ tryline rather than pushing.
We can see Rodda in action below.
Ferreira explains the decision.
“Swimming around the side, and then dragging. You guys are dragging around the side, not pushing anymore.”
There’s a look of resignation from Rodda here, before he actually nods, indicating that he understands Ferreira’s decision.
We’ve heard referees giving penalties for swimming up the side plenty in the recent past, but mention of ‘dragging’ is certainly different in this context.
The Springboks kick their penalty into touch 10 metres from the Barbarians’ tryline and immediately go back to the maul.
Again, the Barbarians contest in the air unsuccessfully and their appeals for a crooked throw are ignored.
The Boks snap into strong mauling shape after winning the lineout and their cohesive power begins to trundle the maul forward.
As soon as Barbarians back rows Miracle Faiʻilagi and Petti end up in the position below, they’re managed away by Ferreira.
“Eight, out. Six, out,” roars Ferreira, and they heed his warning.
The referee then turns his attention to Kebble and hooker Elliot Dee, who have ended up in the positions below, from where they can only drag.
“Out,” is the simple warning from Ferreira.
Meanwhile, the Boks have splintered to their left and continue to drive forward at speed.
Molina attempts to slow them by clearly dragging at a jersey as the Boks thunder past him.
Thereafter, Petti and openside flanker Lachlan Boshier get into the dragging positions we see below.
It’s at this point that Ferreira loses patience. He signals a penalty advantage to South Africa.
“Advantage, dragging again,” he says.
But the Boks are already on their way to finishing their potent maul try through hooker JJ Kotze.
As they cross those final couple of metres, we can see Rodda resignedly releasing his bind and putting his hands in the air, probably keen not to risk a yellow card.
The Barbarians have run out of resistance and the Boks score.
Two dominant Springboks mauls carry them over for a try from 35 metres out, with the Barbarians struggling hugely to even slow them down.
It’s worth pointing out that an invitational team like the Barbarians will often struggle with things like organised maul defence, but the demands that are now placed on defenders to be squeaky clean are also clear.
Maul defence will need to be much tidier moving forward, with seemingly no tolerance for players hanging out in positions that used to look odd but had become acceptable in top-level rugby.
Interestingly, the Springboks didn’t focus on their maul as an attacking weapon in this game against the Barbarians aside from the two instances above. Having done damage there in a brief flurry, they moved away from mauling.
But we can safely assume that they and other big, heavy packs like France and England will be putting even more focus on this part of the game in this window.
Ireland forwards coach Paul O’Connell is someone who will have been spending lots of time considering what the new maul guideline means, so it made sense to ask for his view in Sydney ahead of Saturday’s clash with the Wallabies.
“I think teams will probably maul more, and I think there’ll be more penalties at the maul,” said O’Connell.
“I think some of them will probably be unfair penalties. I think players will probably do a really good job at defending a maul. They’ll end up where they’re quite dominant, and they’ll end up being put offside because they’re dominant.
“And if the referee decides to ping someone straight away and doesn’t manage that player out, I think you could end up with some unfair penalties. But it’s the same for everyone and we all have to learn to deal with it.
“It’s going to be tricky while we all figure it out at the start. But France have been doing it for a year now. I’ve spoken to Donnacha Ryan a little bit about it and he said you just get on with it and you figure it out.
“You accept that there might be one or two more penalties than you’re used to. You try and coach the players hard to not have to be told to get out, to realise I’ve probably gone too far here and get out and get on to the other side.
“It’s going to be a challenge and hopefully with the work we’ve done, we can navigate that challenge while everyone is figuring it out at the start.”
One of O’Connell’s key forwards, second row James Ryan, isn’t convinced that the new guideline will drastically change the picture for Ireland.
He feels that Ireland’s existing method of defending mauls will have them in good shape to deal with the different refereeing focus.
“I wouldn’t say it’s a massive change for us,” said Ryan.
“Some teams like England, they like sweeping around the maul almost just holding you in and dragging you back, whereas our maul D would be more north-south, trying to keep the weight in front, as opposed to creeping up the sides. So hopefully, it’ll be good for us.
“But I think you’ll see teams going for the lineout drive more now because if refs are going to be more pedantic around guys creeping up the side and giving away penalties, I think teams will look to take advantage of it.
“It’s not a bad thing for me as a lineout forward.”
Watch this space.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Guideline Law maul Rassie Rugby Springboks