The success of these law trials has led to their continuation in this year’s Men’s, Women’s and U20s Six Nations Championships.
An incredibly popular addition to the Autumn Nations Series was the ability for referees to go ‘on mic’ to explain key decisions in decisive moments within a game for the benefit of those in stadia as well as being brought into broadcast coverage. This feature is part of an ongoing effort to bring fans even closer to the key moments in fixtures and add another layer of understanding for fans following.
New for 2025 in the Men’s Six Nations will be ‘Touchfinder’, an evolution of the Smart Ball technology that has established itself in recent years. ‘Touchfinder’ is intended to support the team of match officials, specifically assistant referees, in identifying exactly where the ball crosses the touchline, purely from kicks into touch.
Another positive outcome from the recent Autumn Nations Series was an increase in ball-in-play and speed of play as a result of the reduction to 60 seconds for conversion kicks, and 30 seconds to form scrums and lineout. This will carry through into all three Six Nations Championships.
There are two new global law trials (GLTs) to be introduced during the 2025 Championship too, adopted to encourage speed of play. ‘Protecting the 9’ will enable cleaner play at the base of rucks, mauls and scrums and allowing play on for uncontested lineouts that aren’t straight, creating fewer stoppages in play.
Player welfare and injury prevention remains central to every decision and consideration across the game, extending to law trials. Instrumented Mouthguards (iMGs) are an example of this and to ensure consistency between club and country, these will remain a feature of the Men’s and Women’s Six Nations. For the first time iMGs will be applied to the U20s Six Nations. Sensors in the mouthguards monitor the frequency and magnitude of head acceleration during training and match play, and form part of the HIA process.
Included will be the variation of the 20-minute red card that empowers referees to still award a full and permanent red card for deliberate and dangerous acts of foul play.
The 20-minute red card applies to technical offences. The offending team can replace the removed player, to punish the player not the team. If the player receives two yellow cards, that equals a 20-minute red card, because if either offence is deemed dangerous or deliberate it would constitute a full and permanent red card.
The TMO protocol has been revised, meaning the TMO will have additional power to identify clear and obvious infringements in the final attacking passage of play before scoring (knock on, forward pass and in touch) and specifically within the final two phases (offside, maul obstruction and tackle complete).
Commenting on the law trials that will feature across the Men’s, Women’s and U20s Six Nations, Julie Paterson, Chief of Rugby at Six Nations Rugby, said: “Across the game, everyone is working together to ensure we are exploring new and innovative ways to make the game as safe as possible, alongside ambitions to enhance the spectacle for fans, and the experience for players.
"The Autumn Nations Series was a great case study for the progress that is being made, and it is going to be incredibly exciting to see this continue and evolve through the Six Nations Championships.
"The law trials and innovations being introduced are intended to enhance the experience for fans, but they are also there to clarify areas of the game for teams, coaches and players, while supporting match officials, with a spotlight the vital role they play at the centre of our sport. New technology like ‘Touch Finder’ is testament to this, as is the option to go ‘on mic’ as they offer insight that benefits match officials and the fans and the teams involved.
"To continue the momentum created in the Autumn Nations Series 2024, across each of the 2025 Six Nations Championships allows us to ensure we are consistent in our approach and ambition to drive standards in all areas, across the elite men’s and women’s game together with development competitions.”
The 2025 Guinness Men's Six Nations kicks off on Friday 31st January. See the full fixture list here.
