World Rugby responds to questions over future of scrums and bid to make sport ‘quicker and simpler’ for fans
World Rugby, the sport’s global governing body, has said it aims to make the game “quicker and simpler” as it focusses on global growth and an improved fan experience.
A renewed focus on the two goals comes after the body’s Shape of the Game conference in London, at which coaches, executives, match officials and player representatives gathered to discuss the future of rugby.
No new law changes were proposed, with World Rugby suggesting that it felt the game was in a strong place and that it had previously been too keen to tinker, which had potentially confused fans.
Instead, there will be a greater emphasis on alignment of match officiating across competitions, including an evaluation of the television match official process, and a broader attempt to sell and celebrate the sport in both existing and new markets.
“The conversations have validated that when rugby is at its best, and we’ve seen a lot of that recently, it is a great entertainment product,” Alan Gilpin, chief executive of World Rugby, explained. “Does that mean it is perfect and there aren’t areas for improvement? Of course not.
“We’re in a really tough attention economy, as every sport is, and we’ve got to make sure we are mindful of that in every decision we make. A lot of that is about how we interpret making our game quicker and simpler. When we say quicker and simpler, we don’t mean at the expense of the fabric of our game – the contest that is at the heart of everything of rugby. We are talking about the stoppages we can take out without those impacts, and making sure we are mindful of that, because we know that is what the fans want.
“A simpler game doesn’t mean dumbing down crucial parts of our sport. It means making sure that we have got more consistency and understanding for fans in what is happening. If they do, everything tells us that they are really engaged with our game.”
Despite reporting in France suggesting that Australia and New Zealand were advocating a so-called “de-powering” of the scrum, there were no specific discussions to that, with a focus in that area on safety and stability, and removing reset set-pieces.
It comes after former New Zealand Rugby CEO Mark Robinson was appointed as the organisation’s new Chief of Rugby, with a remit to oversee a new five-year strategy.
L’Equipe quoted French refereeing chief Mathieu Raynal as suggesting that some influential unions wished to “replace scrums with mauls”, but World Rugby has pushed back against that narrative.
“None of those issues were debated this week at all,” chair Brett Robinson stressed. “They weren’t on the table to be discussed.
“Mark ran a session and spoke about an establishment of a vision for the game and what we want it to look like. The principles of contest, and the primacy of contest, is everything. The principle of all body shapes and sizes – we need a game that enables us all to be able to participate.
“In no way were there any discussions about de-powering the scrum.”
Mark Robinson will start his new role in May after stepping down following six years with NZ Rugby at the end of 2025.
“We’re a member organisation,” he added. “Members have certainly got views that they are really passionate about with ideas in the game. The French have formed a view, but some of the topics that have been raised there weren’t even agenda items for the week.
“We talked a lot about the principles of the game. Things like the nature of the physical contest, safety, the accuracy of match officiating, simplicity of the game all came to the fore, and we had some great discussions around that.
“The only thing I’d say is that we have got 134 members. They all have real passion for the sport. From my perspective, coming into the organisation, it is very clear that people understand their obligations to the wider interests of the game. We have to balance the beauty of some of the traditions of our sport, but we know that we have to evolve and be open to change where it is needed.”
World Rugby also underscored its commitment to taking the 2031 and 2033 men’s and women’s World Cups to the United States.
The organisation has already begun a significant piece of work to the grow the profile of the sport in North America, with South Africa and New Zealand set to play their fourth “Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry” Test in Baltimore in September.
