World Rugby’s Shape of the Game 2025 conference has reinforced its commitment to the core principles that sustain the sport’s vitality on the field, emphasising a bold vision for its future. With transformative men’s and women’s Rugby World Cups in England this year and Australia in 2027 on the horizon, setting the stage for game changing men’s and women’s Rugby World Cups in the USA in 2031 and 2033. Rugby is focused on ensuring long-term growth and success on and off the field.
Bringing together representatives of five rugby focused committees – high performance men’s and women’s, professional game, professional leagues advisory and community committees – the conference featured input from players, coaches, referees, unions and leagues to consider the impact of the current global law trials and consider the future direction of the sport.
The conference was followed by meetings of the individual committees.
Key actions
- The Player Load Working Group will continue to progress tailored men’s and women’s guidelines for review
- World Rugby will collaborate with competitions to continue to progress minimum standards for game technology to support match official decision-making with consistency
- The dedicated working group will continue to explore streamlining off-field sanctions to advance clarity, consistency and efficiency, as per the agreed recommendation from SOTG 2024
- Unions considered the positive tackle height data from both the elite game and the community lower tackle height trials. Representatives discussed their preferred next steps for the community trials
The meeting heard about the improvements in both the safety and spectacle of rugby since the first Shape of the Game global discussions held in 2022.
Unions also covered:
- the positive progress being made on player welfare across the game, being driven by world leading use of smart mouthguard technology in elite rugby.
- the evolution of match officiating pathways and programes
World Rugby Chair Brett Robinson said: “A year on from agreement on a set of principles that led to the current law trials, we have seen some fabulous rugby being played at both the community and elite game around the world in recent months. All of which stems back to the progression of the laws of the game and the way players and coaches adapt and build their styles around them. There is no point in making change just for change’s sake.
“The Shape of the Game 2025 provided the opportunity to take stock and review within a spirit of consolidation regarding the current on-field laws. However, as World Rugby begins the strategic planning process for beyond 2025, we challenged delegates to think long term and consider the success factors for a thriving sport in 10 years time? How do we attract and retain new fans and participants, and how can the on-field product help secure the financial stability of the sport?”
