Rassie Erasmus has credited World Rugby’s new maul law application guidelines for the number of tries scored during the opening round of the Nations Championship.
A total of 54 tries were scored across the six matches, with the Springboks crossing for seven in their 45-21 victory over England at Ellis Park.
Erasmus believes recent law application changes around the maul contributed to this.
“Interesting thing, I think there were more maul-drive tries scored in this opening round than altogether in the [2026] Six Nations, if I have my stats correct,” said the Bok coach. “I want to give World Rugby credit there.”
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Erasmus previously voiced his frustration at the way mauls were being officiated, arguing that teams were increasingly being prevented from building effective driving mauls from lineouts.
World Rugby subsequently introduced new law application guidelines – effective from 1 June – around players entering mauls from the wrong side.
Erasmus believes the changes have restored the balance.
“I think what people thought is, it’s going to just be all mauling, but because you can’t drag in a maul anymore – you have to put more numbers into a maul – the guys who stop the maul now have to get out and defend after that.
“There’s definitely more mauling, but then after the mauling there’s more drives, because guys are tired of stopping mauls. You can’t just put four guys in and drag a maul to the side.”
Erasmus also praised the contest at scrum time. The hooker is now required to hook, preventing very skew feeds to the set-piece.
“I think the scrum feed, which World Rugby has introduced, is getting rewards where there’s a good contest there,” he said. “And loose forwards must stay bound to make sure their props don’t get scrummed back.”
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The opening weekend also marked the first Nations Championship standings, with teams competing for log points across separate northern and southern hemisphere tables.
Although Erasmus had insisted before the England Test that the Boks would not chase bonus points at the expense of victory, they secured both.
The Nations Championship awards an attacking bonus point for scoring four tries, rather than three more than the opposition in competitions like the French Top 14.
“I do think when you see a table after a first round, all of a sudden [a bonus point] counts.
“That was in our mindset when we ran onto the field but when you have the fourth try, you can also relax a little bit and play a territorial game because you’ve got your five log points.
“But still, when you go into a Test match, you just want to win the Test match. If you disrespect that, you’ll probably lose it.
“So a win is still the thing that counts most.”
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Photo: Patrick Khachfe/Getty Images
The post Rassie: Maul tweaks spark try boom appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
Rassie Erasmus has credited World Rugby’s new maul law application guidelines for the number of tries scored during the opening round of the Nations Championship.
The post Rassie: Maul tweaks spark try boom appeared first on SA Rugby magazine. Read More
