Former Wallabies flyhalf Quade Cooper has sparked fresh debate around rugby’s laws.
Cooper took to social media to propose a radical change designed to reduce stoppages and inject more tempo into the game.
“I’ve been watching a lot of Rugby lately, and it got me thinking about how we could speed the game up and open it up a bit more,” he wrote on X.
“One idea I had, hear me out. To encourage more offloads and reduce the number of rucks, what if when a team knocks the ball on, they’re not allowed to touch it next which currently results in a scrum. If they do, it’s a long arm penalty.”
Under Cooper’s proposal, the non-offending team would be handed immediate attacking opportunity, with no reset.
“That gives the opposition guaranteed first rights to the ball,” he explained. “They can pick it up and play immediately with a backward pass, or if they want to slow it down, it could work similar to an AFL [Aussie rules] mark and you have 10 seconds to resume play or it’s a turn over again. If you step off the mark, you’re live and can be tackled.
“The goal is simple, reward teams that want to play fast, create more chaos, and reduce stoppages?”
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The idea has drawn mixed reactions.
Rugby journalist Jamie Lyall welcomed the intent but questioned the impact.
“I like the principle of the ‘offending’ team not being able to kill play after they knock on. But would you discourage ambition and risk-taking in attack if you increase potential sanction for an error? Might also lead to even more box/contestable kicks to try and force a knock-on”.
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Fans have also raised tactical concerns, suggesting teams may simply concede penalties to slow the game down – highlighting the complexity of balancing entertainment with strategy.
Photo: Phil Walter/Getty Images
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