WITH INTERVIEWS WITH two elite fullbacks and a legendary former out-half in the diary this week, it felt like the perfect opportunity to sound out the feeling around the 50:22 law, which will come into play in the United Rugby Championship – and all other competitions – this season, having already been introduced across southern hemisphere tournaments such as Super Rugby and the Rugby Championship.

The law, which rewards the kicking team with the throw into the lineout if a kick from inside their own half bounces before crossing the touchline in the opposition’s 22, is designed to encourage a more open, attacking game, with the need to keep more defenders in the backfield hopefully opening up more space for the attacking team further up the field.

Sounds good, right?

“Yeah, it’s exciting isn’t it?,” says Leinster and Ireland fullback, Hugo Keenan.

It’s going to challenge the backfield a lot more. It’s certainly going to test us. It means the consequences of those kicks getting in behind you, you have a lot more responsibility back there. I think the forwards will be a lot more interested in the backfield these days, wondering how it’s getting on and stuff.

“We have been replicating it in training, (but) it’s not going to change our system or anything like that. We are just going to have to be better with how we protect our backfield.”

While Keenan sees the positives that come with the law, he also appears unsure that it will actually make much of a dent on the game. 

“Even in the Rugby Championship, it’s not happening that much, is it?” he added. “But we’ll see.”

His backs coach at Leinster, former Felipe Contepomi, was similarly sceptical.

“To be honest, it’s a rule that definitely can help but we can’t get too bogged down in it,” the former out-half explains.

“It is made to create space rather than pin it down there. I don’t know, if it opens more space in the frontline, yeah, I would have fancied that (in my career) but if not it’s fine.

“We’ll see how it evolves.”

Rob Kearney has first-hand experience of the 50:22 law thanks to his six-month spell with Super Rugby side Western Force earlier this year.

Rob Kearney nailed this 50/22 kick 🎯#FORvREB #FirstNationsRound #SuperRugbyAU pic.twitter.com/7f5B2nFwUc

— Stan Sport (@StanSportAU) March 12, 2021

During his time in the southern hemisphere, Kearney didn’t shy away from the option, producing a couple of very effective 50:22 kicks for the Perth side.

“It is a big boost,” Kearney says. “It’s a momentum-shifter in a game, your forwards are delighted, there’s nothing nicer than running 50m up the field for a set-piece. Effectively, it’s like winning a penalty and kicking to the corner.

It is a big buzz for the team and, likewise, if one goes against you it’s a big boost to the opposition team. I do think it’s a good rule, but the proof will be in the pudding a little bit because we didn’t get a huge insight into it in Super Rugby.”

Clearly, all three seem unconvinced that the law will be fully embraced by URC teams this season.

“For me, the drop out from the goal line will change the game more, rather than the 50:22,” Contepomi says.

“I haven’t seen many 50:22s, maybe three or four over the last weekend in all the games. I saw a lot more drop outs or teams put under a lot more pressure because of grubbers or long kicks entering the in-goal area, and not knowing what to do so we will see how those trial rules evolve. They won’t change our way of playing.”

“I think the Saracens-Bristol game at the weekend, I saw a stat there were like 86 kicks or something like that,” Keenan adds.

“So I think it might be in the back of some team’s minds, that they might kick before they run. But for me and for the way we play, I don’t think it’s going to change much in D and then obviously in attack, it’s just going to benefit the teams with good kickers.”

Contepomi, in particular, doesn’t envisage the 50:22 leading to a more attacking style of rugby on show.

“I would put it another way: people will be kicking even more. The thing is what you do with the ball, and we still need a bit more clarity around the breakdown because teams are going really hard on the breakdown. That’s not a problem – it’s the illegality of going hard, if you are on your feet and tacklers are rolling away, is the jackler legal? That’s more what will free up if you are allowed to play (or not). Now, sometimes, if you play too much you are going to be penalised, so is it worth it?

“Those are the questions you need to ask yourself. Don’t overplay if you’re not going to get rewarded. They’re starting to find that clarity when you have new interpretations of the laws, and so on. So, hopefully that permits the team that plays because with every rule that changes or is differently interpreted, the guys that think (up) the rule or the trial, they think it will do one thing, and then coaches come and think it another way.”

Whether the law is here to stay or not, teams will at least need to learn how to defend against the threat of a 50:22. Kearney says it’s all down to the analysis you do on your opponent in training.

You have to do a lot more work during the week in terms of your backfield strategy. I would have played a lot of 14/1 (structures) where I would have been managing the backfield on my own. It’s impossible to do that now, so you’ve got someone else with you there now.

“It might be your 9, 10 or a winger who probably won’t be as familiar with having to take up that position, so there are going to be a lot of fullbacks there who are coaching the guys on the side and teaching them elements of the backfield which they might not have had to deal with in previous seasons.

“It’s just another area of the game that’s going to take a bit more homework during the week for the guys who are going to be in those positions.”

So, gamechanger, or damp squib?

“It will take a few months before we get a proper insight,” Kearney adds.

“I think at the start of the season you are going to find a lot of players when they get the ball looking for the 50:22 straight away, because they know that is the biggest advantage if they get a set-piece in the opposition 22.

“Teams will have to start defending 13/2 now. It had been changing. There were still a few teams who were trying to stick with a 14/1 system but it’s too hard to do that. It does make it a little bit easier to play to the edges and get some traction on those edges.

“I think it will be good for the game, but I don’t think we’re going to see the full benefits of it for three or four months.”

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