World Rugby are poised to remove the rule that allows a player to score a try by bringing the ball into contact with the foam pad surrounding the base of the posts.

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From next season, it will no longer be possible to score a try by touching the base of the posts with the ball, meaning it will be necessary to touch down in the in-goal area or on the line for a valid try.

L’Equipe are reporting this decision was decided at the World Rugby symposium on players’ health, which was held in Paris on Tuesday. The matter will now go ahead for validation in May at the annual meeting of the rules committee.

Safety concerns have been raised over the winter about players trying to score at the butt of the goalpost.  

Last November, during a Guinness PRO14 match in Cork, Edinburgh’s Pierre Schoeman lifted the post protection about a metre above the ground when Munster approached the line with a series of pick-and-go drives. 

The left players exposed to a potentially violent collision with the exposed goalpost. Schoeman wasn’t penalised for the incident but a number of coaches have called for action about the rule in the interim.  

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