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The four-try bonus point is now a thing of the past after SANZAAR today announced a name change and a new set of law variations for the 2016 Super Rugby season.
Incorporating another ‘A’ to reflect the Argentinean side of the organisation, SANZAAR announced that the bonus point would be awarded to teams that score three more tries than their opponents, to encourage teams to continue playing for the full 80 minutes.
This is the same principle currently used in the National Rugby Championship in Australia.
The other key law variation is that penalty options will change after the whistle has blown, with teams allowed to kick for touch and play the lineout, where previously that would be called full time.
SANZAAR have also announced their team of referees for the season, which will include a 22-person panel, nine of whom are yet to officiate a Super Rugby game.
“The 2016 referee squad contains 22 members, of which nine are in line to make their first appearance at this level, including Federico Anselmi and Shuhei Kubo of Argentina and Japan respectively,” said SANZAAR CEO Andy Marinos.
“These law amendments, while subtle in nature, will help Super Rugby’s continuing evolution as the best provincial competition in the world.”
“The change to the bonus point, which has been widely discussed throughout the past week as one potential innovation, has now been formally approved by the ExCo for the 2016 season.
“By implementing this change, we expect to see more attacking and competitive rugby as teams will be asked to keep their foot down for the full 80 in order to claim the try-scoring bonus point, which we have seen used to great effect in France over the past few years.
“In addition to this, permitting teams to opt for a lineout after time has expired serves to disincentive opponents from infringing and aims to reward sides that are particularly strong set-piece exponents which, when coupled with the previously mentioned changes, encourages more attacking and competitive rugby.”
“It has not gone unnoticed the number of key stakeholders that have felt the need to publicly criticise SANZAAR for initiatives that were floated months ago and heavily canvassed throughout each National Union,” Marinos added.
“We would never impose such fundamental changes to Super Rugby without proper consultation with stakeholders but will nevertheless continue to engage our member unions and franchises and work with all teams to continue striving for Super Rugby’s ongoing improvement.”
“It was also considered whether to adopt pre-2013 television match official protocol whereby the TMO could only rule on try scoring, in-goal and foul play, however following consultation with World Rugby, where we were informed they would be conducting a TMO review this year, we have decided to retain ‘status quo’ for 2016 and will participate fully with the review in an effort to ensure that this area of the game gets the focus and attention it deserves.”
2016 Super Rugby Referees squad
Federico Anselmi (Argentina – 0 Super Rugby, 7 Tests)*
Nic Berry (Australia – 0 Super Rugby, 0 Tests)*
Stuart Berry (South Africa – 21 Super Rugby, 5 Tests)
Nick Briant (New Zealand – 25 Super Rugby, 2 Tests)
Mike Fraser (New Zealand – 23 Super Rugby, 4 Tests)
Angus Gardner (Australia – 26 Super Rugby, 5 Tests)
Rohan Hoffmann (Australia – 26 Super Rugby, 3 Tests)
William Houston (Australia – 0 Super Rugby, 0 Tests)*
Quinton Immelman (South Africa – 0 Super Rugby, 0 Tests)*
Glen Jackson (New Zealand – 41 Super Rugby, 16 Tests)
Craig Joubert (South Africa – 93 Super Rugby, 64 Tests)
Shuhei Kubo (Japan – 0 Super Rugby, 6 Tests)*
Andrew Lees (Australia – 22 Super Rugby, 2 Tests)
Jamie Nutbrown (New Zealand – 0 Super Rugby, 0 Tests)*
Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand – 5 Super Rugby, 0 Tests)
Jaco Peyper (South Africa – 59 Super Rugby, 29 Tests)
Brendon Pickerill (New Zealand – 0 Super Rugby, 0 Tests)*
Chris Pollock (New Zealand – 70 Super Rugby, 22 Tests)
Rasta Rasivhenge (South Africa – 0 Super Rugby, 0 Tests)*
Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa – 9 Super Rugby, 1 Test)
Jaco van Heerden (South Africa – 6 Super Rugby, 0 Tests)
Paul Williams (New Zealand – 0 Super Rugby, 0 Tests)*
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.