World Rugby must act fast to introduce new 22:5 ruling after this
Since their introduction to the game, 50:22s have been well received and generally regarded as a success, but a spanner has now been thrown into the works.
Up until last weekend, 50:22s were seen as quite an august achievement, until Carcassonne fly-half Baptiste Mouchous leathered the ball from his own 22 into Vannes’ five metre line last Friday in France’s Pro D2. Since then, 50:22s have looked like child’s play, as 22:5s are the true indication of a good kicker.
What’s unfair is that a team gets the same reward for a 22:5 as they would for a 50:22, and World Rugby must do something about that. There needs to be more than simply being awarded a lineout; perhaps the opponents lose a player for two minutes or the kicking team gets an automatic penalty try? Realistically there is not much of a law a change that could happen for a 22:5 that would not be utterly ridiculous, other than possibly being given a free kick rather that a lineout only.
Then again, it still provides a brilliant field position to launch an attack which Carcassonne were able to do. Not only were the scores level at 11-11 on 61 minutes courtesy of a Mouchous penalty, but that was the beginning of a very eventful five minutes for him. He received the kick-off in which he produced the 22:5, and was at the heart of the action a few minutes later as he landed a drop goal to put his side in the lead. Vannes fought back with another penalty to make the final score 14-14 in the league that keeps on giving.
Take a look at the kick:
https://twitter.com/rugbyprod2/status/1453336014660018179?s=20
The draw meant that Vannes remained second from bottom in the league, but are now unbeaten in two matches having lost their opening six matches of the season. Carcassonne, meanwhile, sit three points and three places ahead of them.
