Escorts/shepherding to be refereed more harshly in Autumn

World Rugby wants to clamp down on players shielding team-mates catching high balls after issuing a series of desired objectives to referees and coaches ahead of the November Tests.

A presentation produced by the governing body’s head of match officials and director of rugby, Joël Jutge and Phil Davies, and seen by Telegraph Sport, reveals a focus on “speed”, “safety” and “space” as well as clarifying the introduction of 20-minute red cards.

The defending of box kicks and retreating defenders, known as “escort” runners, will also be addressed this autumn as players blocking and obstructing those chasing a high kick could be refereed more strictly. Previously, as long as a retreating defender did not change their line to deliberately obstruct an attacking chaser, then they were deemed legal.

However, any retreating defender “slowing down” with an attacking chaser behind them, while in the vicinity of the defensive receiver, might also risk being penalised. In an example shown to referees, World Rugby says that the retreating defender “obstructs the chaser by slowing down in front of the catcher” which “prevents a contest for the ball and leads to a dangerous situation for both the catcher and the chaser”

The unintended consequence of this directive, however, could be that if box-kicking becomes harder to defend then attacking teams will do it even more. That, coupled with the November weather, means that a law interpretation introduced with a package designed to speed up play and improve the spectacle could result in what is essentially a box-kicking fest this autumn.

World Rugby’s referees and match-official coaches will gather at a pre-autumn training camp next week to decide whether these edicts should be implemented, but Telegraph Sport understands that there is a desire within the governing body to have them green-lit.

Referees have also been reminded that when a team clears their lines from first receiver - rather than a box kick - their team-mates at the ruck from where the ball was passed must remain stationary or retreat until a player actively puts them onside. This is an element of what has been dubbed “Dupont’s Law”.

“Croc rolls”, the act of grabbing a defending jackaller by the torso at a ruck and rolling them dangerously away from the ball, also received clarification. These will be judged on a case-by-case basis but if a “croc roll” is considered to be more clumsy than cynical, and if a player has fallen on the lower limbs of a defender, then it still could be subject to a 20-minute red card. Telegraph Sport understands that those which are deliberate will still receive a full red-card sanction.

In the advisory, World Rugby has clarified the 60-second shot-clock for conversions, which will allow teams to take the kick with a different ball that was used to score the try. Currently, teams must take conversions with the same try-scoring ball.

In a bid to speed up play, the game’s governing body has also instructed its referees to police rolling away from the tackle area more strictly. Regardless of their position or actions, if a player has a “clear impact on speed and quality of ball”, then they should be penalised. Referees have also been instructed to be extra vigilant towards attacking players taking defenders out at the side of the ruck to open gaps into which scrum-halves could snipe.