World Rugby announced details for its non-contact T1 Rugby in the week before the 2023 Rugby World Cup final in Paris, but what is this version of the sport?
The sport’s governing body says this is the “first non-contact sport that fully reflects the characteristics of rugby, including scrums, lineouts and breakdown” and will be used to promote inclusion in the sport. In addition, T1 will be rolled out globally by World Rugby, regional associations and member unions to supercharge the growth of the sport.
World Rugby Chief Executive Alan Gilpin said: “We are delighted to bring T1 Rugby to the global game as the first non-contact offering that truly reflects the unique characteristics of the sport. With popularity and participation growing, particularly amongst young people and specifically girls, it is crucial that it will capitalise on the momentum by making the game we love accessible to all to supercharge growth.
World Rugby hopes this form of the game will increase participation, “particularly for the men’s and women’s Rugby World Cups in the USA where the opportunity is huge.”
The obvious question is, how does this differ from the variants of touch rugby many contact rugby sessions have already amended in the sport? World Rugby claims T1 will “supercharge participation and engagement by making the sport more relevant and accessible to young people.”
What is T1 Rugby?
Member unions from England, New Zealand and South Africa to Laos and Vietnam have provided input into the development of T1 Rugby.
Gilpin added, “T1 Rugby was developed with significant input from our member unions, including England, New Zealand, South Africa, Laos and Vietnam. Ultimately, it will provide a vehicle for our member unions to expand participation reach in their country. T1 Rugby now completes a portfolio of full contact, modified contact (via Game on Global) and non-contact rugby, a key pillar of our six-point player welfare plan of adapting the rules of the game to cater for those who don’t wish to play the contact version of our game.”
When World Rugby officially announced the T1 Rugby, it said this variant “contains many of the attacking and defending aspects of rugby, requiring players to make the same decisions.”
- World Rugby says that in trials, players have been able to pick up the rules in less than 20 minutes.
- Feedback from participants has highlighted the simplicity and reinforced the rugby feel of the game.
- T1 will become the cornerstone of World Rugby’s Get Into Rugby programme.
Image Credit: World Rugby
What has been said of T1 Rugby
Keith Lewis (Laws Co-ordinator at World Rugby and Founder of RugbyReferee.net) said via his LinkedIn, “Super proud to see this get into the big wide rugby world. A non-contact game that looks and feels like rugby union. It can be played by total beginners to the game, family groups around our clubs, or as part of normal club environment for junior or adult players, with various flexes on the rules to suit the level or rugby experience of the participants.”
Chris Mastaglio, the Sports For Development Director of ChildFund Rugby, added “It’s exciting to see T1 Rugby finally launched! An amazing group of people have been working on it and having heard feedback directly from players as part of the gane’s development – it will be a great tool to not only bring players into the game, but to keep them. I’m looking forward to seeing the first competition next month hosted by the Lao Rugby Federation!”
You can find out more in this video from World Rugby to explain T1 Rugby.
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