THE LAWS OF THE GAME
No separate set of laws have been written for youth rugby - instead, the adult laws, as written by the International Rugby Board (IRB), will apply with certain variations for youth rugby written by the English RFU and known as the "Under 19 variations". Click on the links below to see the full versions of the Main Adult Laws and the Under 19 variations. The Experimental Law Variations (ELV) come into effect in 2008/09 and a link to these is also shown below. These 'ELV's' are being introduced for a season to see if they work, hence the 'experimental' tag. You may want to start by looking at the Under 19 Variations.
The Main Laws of the Game - In the "Laws of The Game" section click on "more", then click on "EN Full 2008" for the full english laws - It is a large document and can take some time to connect - be patient.
Under 19 variations for Youth Rugby - This covers the variations to the main adult laws that that apply to U13 to U19 Rugby. This site requires some patience...... Find the Rules and Regulations section on the left (list starts with Home, then RFU Rules) then scroll down the list and click on the Schools & Youth heading. Then in the section immediately to the right, click on Appendix 1 - U19 Law Variations. You will then see the variations in the next section on the right, starting with 1). Substitutions, 2). Squeeze Ball, 3). Shoulders above the hips, 4). Law 14 - Ball on the Ground. 5). U13 & U14 Variations. 6). U15 Variations. 7) U16, U17 & U19 Variations. The text detail will appear in the lower section as you click each topic.
The 2008-09 Experimanetal Law variations. - Click on this link to see the changes to the Laws that come into effect for this season on an experimental basis. These 'ELV' changes all apply to Youth Rugby but, in the same way that the main laws are varied for U19 rugby, the RFU have written variations to the ELV's for Youth Rugby- these are as follows :-
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• All U18s Competitions will play IRB U19 laws and will trial all the ELV’s with the exception that they will NOT TRIAL Law 17 The Maul. • All U15s Competitions will play to the RFU Under 14s Variations and will trial some of the ELV’s. They will NOT TRIAL Law 17 and Law 19 number 9 and 10, for Law 19 please refer to the RFU U14 Variations. So it's no purchasing alcohol or pulling down mauls until you're over 18. |
Final Point - When you have read and digested the 180 odd pages of the adult laws plus all the variations, it may happen that on one rare Sunday you know more than the volunteer who is reffing your match. It shouldn't happen but it does. Having a go at him during the game almost certainly won't help the situation but there are positive ways that you can point out a mistake - Think this through yourself and come up with a strategy or ask your coach to give you some tips on 'managing referees'. If you've gone this far you may then want to consider going on a refereeing course to learn even more. Enjoy.