Former referee claims Australia and New Zealand pushing to replace scrums with mauls

Top officials from all over the world have gathered in London to discuss the future of the sport and possible law alterations that need to be implemented, with time running out before the 2027 Rugby World Cup.

The debates at the summit are predictably polarising and have reportedly led to two clear factions with South Africa siding with the northern hemisphere nations, allying with France in particular who are leading the conversations, with the opposition being Australia and New Zealand.

According to a report, the north is eager to defend the 'traditional values' of the sport, which they believe are under threat, as the south wants to make changes that push union to a rugby league-esque sport.

"They're targeting time-consuming phases, moments of collective possession, in order to increase actual playing time," Raynal, who is the manager of Top 14 and PRO D2 referees, told French publication L'Equipe.

World Rugby has repeatedly moved to speed up the game, introducing shot clocks on scrums, placekicks and lineouts. They also removed the ability to opt for a scrum from a free-kick and hookers are no longer penalised for skewed throws at the lineout, provided the opposition have not competed at the set-piece.

The latter of those is still being trialled and is set to either be permanently adopted into the law book, have the trial extended or revert to the previous ruling, with the outcome set to be decided during the summit.

Raynal is part of the French delegation that believes they are protecting the traditional values of the game with a focus on the set-pieces and stunningly claimed that an idea was tabled that scrums could be replaced with mauls.

"In some cases, they want to replace scrums with mauls. Currently, there are calls to allow the collapse of mauls, it's important to know that," the former referee stated.

"We believe these zones are powerful symbols of our sport… In the long run, the rugby that New Zealand and Australia advocate will homogenise player profiles. We'll end up with only back-rowers or centres. This will have an impact on the democratisation of our sport."

Another topic that has caused a stir is that of the red card with World Rugby extending the trial of the 20-minute sanction.

The reduction of a red card's punishment has been truly polarising, with France and Ireland publicly opposing the 20-minute red while the likes of New Zealand, Australia and even South Africa have been more willing to adopt it.

A compromise of sorts has been reached with the referee retaining the ability to issue a full red card, which caused controversy during November last year.

However, Raynal states that World Rugby chair Brett Robinson and incoming Chief of Rugby Mark Robinson want to abolish the full, permanent red card with the 20-minute sanction being the top in-game punishment.

"World Rugby wants to implement the 20-minute red card instead of the full red card," he said.

"This means we will no longer see full expulsions except for biting, punching, or kicking, which hardly ever happens in rugby anymore. We could have a case, as early as the 5th minute of play, of a shoulder charge to the face of a key player who leaves with a fractured jaw. And 20 minutes later, the offending team would be back to 15 men.

"That's not right. In terms of image, it would have irreversible consequences. The full red card is absolutely essential in our sport. We want to preserve it."

The All Blacks fell foul to a permanent red card during the 2023 Rugby World Cup final against South Africa when Sam Cane was sent off for a dangerous tackle on Jesse Kriel. While New Zealand were hamstrung by his absence, South Africa only emerged victorious by a single point.

France have presented statistics that state that teams that are reduced to 14 men because of a red card still have a win-rate of over 40%.