Former NRL, SANZAAR and Wales boss launches his vision for a radical new version of rugby

Press Release from Rugby Rules

Rugby Rules is being launched today as an alternative to all the major full contact sports – Rugby Union, Australian Football and Rugby League.

It’s been designed as a safe, exciting, dynamic, fast and fun sport which can be enjoyed by coaches, players, referees, spectators, sponsors and media.

Rugby Rules is the brainchild of two people with a huge interest and involvement in Rugby over 120 years in total, both from different backgrounds – David Moffett and Enrique Rodriguez.

Rugby Wrap Up | Episode 15

Rugby Wrap Up | Episode 15

Together they own Rugby Rules Limited and have offices in Australia and New Zealand.

‘Topo’ Rodriguez, an Argentine and Wallabies international, is still regarded as one of the finest exponents of loose head scrummaging the world has seen.

He is a Triple Rugby Union International (Argentina, Tahiti, Australia), Wallabies captain (1987), Australian U21s Forward and Scrum Coach (Southern Hemisphere Championship, Buenos Aires 1995).

Moffett is a former player, referee and administrator.

Moffett has been the CEO of SANZAR, NZ Rugby, Welsh Rugby, the NRL and started his career as the Executive Director of NSW Rugby.

Importantly they are both fans, supporters and spectators who have become disillusioned with the current state of Rugby.

Over the past two months they have found much in common and both agreed that the solutions lay, not in tinkering with the current laws of Rugby, but to devise a completely new game which has its roots in Rugby, League and Aussie Rules.

Moffett set about writing the rules for this new game and ‘Topo’ provided the perfect sounding board and astute observations and recommendations.

In many respects Rugby Rules is similar to Rugby but at the same time completely different. It was born out of a dissatisfaction with Rugby and its administrators at the apex of the game.

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Both Moffett and Rodriguez are known for calling a spade a shovel and thus it was a simple matter to agree on the fundamentals of the game.

At its most basic it is a game for contest of possession and to be played by players who are on their feet and onside.

When we make that statement, we mean it and the rules of the game were easy to formulate once that was agreed.

We also wanted a return to a dynamic game where the focus is on going forward, support, continuity and pressure with and without the ball.

We were also concerned with making the game safe to play whilst at the same time encouraging full contact.

We wanted the ball to be in play for the full 60 minutes and because of the speed of the game we settled on 3 periods of 20 minutes with 10 minute breaks in between periods 1 and 2.

We want players to be true athletes and consequently there is no lifting in the lineouts, scrum resets are consigned to history, cleaning out is banned and the game is played by 14 players consisting of 6 forwards and 8 backs.

There are only 6 replacements, 7 coaches and support staff, resulting in substantial cost savings.

Referees revert to being the sole judge of fact and time. Line judges are responsible for touch and may report on offside and foul play. There will no outside interference or input from a TMO.

It is over 100 years since a variation of Rugby was introduced to the world as a result of a lack of understanding and foresight, and we believe that the time has come for a fresh approach which is based on the past, present and future of the game.

Rugby Rules is the answer, with a game that is simple to coach, play, referee and watch while still retaining those elements that so many people are drawn to.

For a full explanation of the laws of Rugby Rules, click here.