World Rugby chair hints at further law trials ahead of 2027 Rugby World Cup

With the tournament in Australia fast approaching, any law changes must be nailed down by the start of the Nations Championship next year, which kicks off in July 2026.

The game's governing body has made a plethora of changes since the 2023 World Cup in France, including shot clocks for set-pieces and place kicks.

The scrum options were also removed from a free-kick, while the 20-minute red card has also been introduced with the tweaks made under the banner of making the game quicker and being fan-focused.

Robinson, who succeeded Sir Bill Beaumont as World Rugby chair, believes that there has been progress, but says that the game still has its challenges, which the governing body is hoping to address over the festive season with the shape of the game conference taking place early in the new year.

"We play a huge role in working with our members to create a better product, and when we say grit in our gears, look over the last 150 years, it's been more than grit, it's been clunky, and there's been a need for a lot of oil to focus on the right things," Robinson said on the Rugby Unity podcast with Eddie Jones and David Pembroke.

"After the 2023 World Cup, we did a lot of work, listening to our fans, and there was some research that was presented throughout the game about the things that were really frustrating our fans.

"And those primarily were too much senseless kicking, laws and management of the game that wasn't promoting teams to attack, and then finally, there was just too much dead time. So since 2023, we have made some progress on some of those things and in some we haven't.

"There've been changes to shot clocks, we're trying to remove dumb and senseless actions like a not straight throw into a lineout and if no contest.

"The introduction of the 20-minute red card was really frustrating because it took us a lot longer, because some of our friends in the northern hemisphere needed to better understand it.

"There's definitely been some wins, but I still feel there are some big challenges fundamentally."

The World Rugby chair also criticized how different views between hemispheres are slowing down changes and frustrating fans. He praised Australia and New Zealand for being willing to trial new rules in Super Rugby Pacific, while Northern Hemisphere competitions have been slower to adopt changes.

"We go to the TMO as an example; earlier this year, we had sort of two different perspectives from the north and the south about the role the TMO could play," he explained.

"There have been some trials that have been underway, and I actually don't think that they're working, so we have acknowledged that and we're establishing a review over the Christmas period, heading into the shape of the game to review that element of the game. To be fair, Super Rugby are trailing some new protocols around the TMO as well."

The TMO and Foul Play Review Bunker caused frustrations in November, particularly around the use of full red cards and the length of TMO reviews. Robinson reveals that World Rugby has tasked an independent panel to review the role of the fourth official, led by outgoing New Zealand Rugby CEO Mark Robinson.

"Primarily, the principles of having the referee in charge of the game and managing resources are the primacy of what we believe the role should be, and I don't think that's necessarily the way things have transpired on occasion through the year," he said.

"We've appointed Mark Robinson to chair an independent review panel to challenge us about the way we look at the TMO and some other elements that we may be able to easily shift ahead of the June-July internationals."

"I don't think we are moving at a good pace. We have a cultural problem in our game with different perspectives on how it should be played, and we don't have a system that enables changes to move quickly. That's something I've challenged us to reconsider."

"Ultimately, we need unions and competitions to trial. What's been wonderful about the southern hemisphere, particularly Super Rugby, Australia and New Zealand, is they are open to trying new things. For example, quick taps from free kicks or the 50:22 rule are being trialled to create more space and speed up the game. We rely on competitions to experiment and innovate, and it's from there that we really get changes in our game."