How Nations Championship is changing shape of the game

The days of unions fighting for their corners in isolation, and Test match schedules being split into ‘friendly’ matches in July and November, are over. Investment in rugby as a global bi-hemispheric economy is here to stay. The Nations Championship it’s only going to get bigger and more inclusive after the 2027 World Cup. Get used to the new order.

There will be short-term pain, but more long-term gain as the annual calendar restructures around the needs of private investment, with packaged media rights, major sponsors and the ultimate goal of greater, more sustainable financial returns.

It may be a closed shop, for now, but like it or not, this is the new direction of professional rugby as a business, and it’s filtering into all aspects of the product on free display. Nowhere is this more true than in the running game, which is designed to generate more content than ever before; more playing time, over 37 minutes per game; more points, with 62 points per game; and more tries, with a current average of nine tries per game.

After four rounds of the competition, 216 attempts were scored, but only 21 were scored from the penalty spot. To put that figure into perspective, the record 2026 Six Nations saw 111 tries scored and 30 penalty goals scored. 91% of tries scored is a ratio never before seen on a rugby field at any major tournament.

Ahead of the resumption of the Nations Championship, new refereeing changes implemented in light of the RGR series played in South Africa in August and September. This recent article with the match officials in charge of this month’s tests offered an informative overview of the main topics of interest: scrum, lineout and drive maul.

The balance between the amount of usable ball derived from scrums and the number of penalties awarded was a major topic of conversation, given the diametrically opposed views on the set that emerged from RGR. Where 32 of 34 New Zealand feeds were played (94%), 12 of 16 Springbok scrum feeds resulted in penalties (75%). Establishing common sense was a priority for the judges in November, and the debate is summarized in the article:

“Listening to the discussion around the scrums for about an hour, the message that came out of it was that although the ‘brake leg’ was all that everyone was talking about in those early Tests of the biggest rivalry series between New Zealand and South Africa – where, according to existing law, a bitch has to keep one foot forward flat on the ground in the tunnel during the ‘squat’ and ‘binddra’ phase fixing the shoulder position of the loose head is now the most important thing.

“If it becomes a problem at the start of Test matches, the officials will inform the players about it soon. The only way to really break bad habits.”

England’s Luke Pearce set the stage on Friday night Ireland and Argentina, looking for ‘loose shoulders’ at the start of every argument. Pearce stood close to the stage all evening, examining the details of the set-up angles in forensic detail:

The torch was passed to his Prem colleague Karl Dickson in Saturday night’s game between France and Fiji, through a continuous dialogue between Dickson and France who replaced the loose Jefferson Poirot. The Englishman urged the UBB prop three times to remove his right shoulder from its ‘tucked-in’ position under Peat Mauvaka’s armpit, before finally losing patience and hitting him with a free-kick at the fourth question:

https://t.co/FsxnuNeEDk

— William Bishop (@RPvids1994) November 10, 2026

Why? The image of dominance painted by modern scrums on their own feed – but so rarely confirmed on the opposition’s ball – begins with looseheads and whores crowding into the opposition’s space, then pinching their victim with a ‘double team’. For the most part, the judges decided not to reward this tactic in the fourth round:

https://t.co/Ma5aCgIFMB

— William Bishop (@RPvids1994) November 10, 2026

https://t.co/OJSwkagLby

— William Bishop (@RPvids1994) November 10, 2026

Both of these scrums are ‘pictures of dominance’ which are rewarded with a penalty in the RGR, but referee Andrew Brace of Ireland penalizes the feeding team in the game between Scotland and New Zealand at Murrayfield, while in another Paul Williams of New Zealand calls for a reset in Wales-Japan Cardiff encounter: “Obviously nobody’s going forward there. I don’t reward that,” he replies sharply, when Welsh winger Jac Morgan questions.

There were also clear signs that the referees were looking for more contests in the air on the line. Luke Pearce hit Argentina’s first line-up of the game with a free-kick on Friday night for an ‘unofficial’ and Cougars they quickly lost four of the next eight feeds with Ireland in general – and Ryan Baird in particular – offering a greater approach to the hurling.

The elephant in the room in the Nations Championship is the number of tries scored from close range. Of the 55 total tries scored in round four, 20 were converted directly from lineout drives and the sheer ease of scoring under the revised maul rules was a sight to behold. It reinforces the trend in the game as a whole.

A banner headline in The Irish Independent a few weeks ago read ’32 maul tries in URC already this season – aren’t you amused by the new rugby code?‘ It was written by Irish journalist Rúaidhrí O’Connor, and for those unable to see the article behind the site’s paywall, the detail can be found at ‘X’:

‘Twenty-four URC matches so far this season have yielded 32 maul attempts. Each team averages 10 mauls per game, with each maul worth 3.7m per maul. Maul has become a rugby cheating code, aren’t you having fun?’

I really think the maul is a strength for all teams now, because it’s a pushing competition and a synchronization competition and a flying V-formation competition… I’m very glad that World Rugby has done that.

To put the average meters per maul stat into perspective, in European competition last season, the best stat for meters gained from the maul was 3.6 meters by Champions Cup winners Union Bordeaux-Bègles. Current URC average already exceeds the best figure from the previous season.

As Connacht head coach Stuart Lancaster noted, one of the best sides in the competition, u Stormers from South Africa, have already explored the possibility of a maul in the middle of the field, away from the line: “Teams will kick more out of the field like the Stormers did, and then obviously that maul outfield leads to a penalty.”

There is a real possibility that the new maul laws could have an undue influence on the outcome of matches with the biggest tournament on the calendar looming on the horizon in just 12 months. Needless to say, coaches of traditionally strong teams, such as Springboks head coach Rassie Erasmus, are quite happy with the new set-piece developments:

“I really think the maul is a strength for all teams now because it’s a pushing competition and a synchronization competition and a flying V-formation competition, where there was this technical thing that the referees were struggling to sort out. I’m very glad World Rugby did that.”

Before we move on, let’s offer refreshments the essence of the new guidelines:

‘Players must join (or rejoin) the maul by linking up with the last player in the maul, not by forming a chain of two or more players and swinging up, or rounding the side.

Any player tied to the outside of the maul may contest possession with his other hand, or may continue to push/drive the maul, but may not be in a position to pull/pull the maul.

‘When a player loses dominance and starts to be in a position to pull or pull, he should remove himself from the competition or be subject to sanctions.’

The essence of the new law is designed to reward players who stay in a pushing position, whether they belong to the attacking or defending side, rather than the ‘lazy action’ of those who want to draw or draw the opponent away from the ball, or simply block access to the ball.

Any line coach in the game would recognize this image as the optimal starting position for a successful maul. While the receiver returns to terra firmaone of his lifters moves around to block access to the ball. He is not in a position to push or drive with his back to the defense, and often arrives early, but still the action is rarely punished.

Not only are tries scored for fun from fat drives, they are scored from positions well beyond the 5m line:

https://t.co/8UOxOc8Qti

— William Bishop (@RPvids1994) November 10, 2026

https://t.co/p8ml8kPwCp

— William Bishop (@RPvids1994) November 10, 2026

In both videos, there are also players in front of the ball who are clearly pulling or pulling the ball carrier with their backs towards the defense towards the end of the run – Scotland’s Sione Tuipulotu and Matt Fagerson in the first instance, England’s Maro Itoje and Alex Coles in the second:

If you’re on the offensive side of the ball, pulling or swiping doesn’t draw judgment as much as it does on defense. Players are allowed to stay in the contest and block access to the ball until the very end of the game, like rugby’s own version of the ‘human shield’.

The new direction of rugby in the Nations Championship era is all about fun – more points, more tries, more spectacle. This is a game that grows into its smartest Savile Row business suit, presenting its public with a sleek brand and expecting a return on its investment. Officiating is required to keep pace on and off the pitch, and nowhere more so than at set-up. A small advantage to the attacking side in each skirmish or lane? Certainly, but let’s have a fair competition, in the true spirit of the game.