This Friday, January 3, the EPCR, the organizer of the Champions Cup, confirmed the arrival of four rules, during the next championship day, the weekend of January 10, 11 and 12.
In 2025, Rugby continues to evolve its rules. The EPCR announced that it would apply rule changes requested by World Rugby from the 3rd day of competition. The world body will implement them in all world competitions starting from January 1, 2025. And, this will also be the case for the VI Nations Tournament. These aim to “streamline the game”. But, for the moment, they are only experimental.
The rules are therefore as follows: “a limit of 60 seconds for typing a transformation to speed up the pace of play”, “a limit of 30 seconds of preparation for touches in order to reduce downtime”, “it will be possible to play an uncontested touch even if the throw is not straight”, and “scrum halves will be better protected behind scrums, rucks and mauls”.
These four changes will therefore be applied in the Champions Cup this season, where six French clubs are playing.
The Champions Cup to set an example for the Top 14
These new rules will then be put in place from the next Toulouse match. During the 3rd day of the group stage of the Champions Cup, Stade Toulousain will face the Durban Sharks, in South Africa.
But, these rules will not yet be applied to the Top 14. In fact, they will only be tested from the 15th day, i.e. the weekend of January 25 and 26. They will also be installed in Pro D2 from the 18th day.
