The 2021-2022 Kenya rugby season kicks off on Saturday with four Nationwide quarter-final play-offs on the cards.
At the same time the Kenya Rugby Referee Association (KRRA) has confirmed use of the World Rugby global law trials during the new season.
Lower tier clubs have not been in action since the suspension of sporting activities in March last year when the coronavirus pandemic broke out.
Shamas will entertain Maseno at the RFUEA grounds in Nairobi, Kitale are up against visiting JKUAT Cougars at St Joseph’s Kitale as Kabarak University tackles the Technical University of Mombasa in Kabarak.
CITAM Kisumu will tackle Daystar Falcons in Maseno.
The winners will progress to the semi-finals on November 13 with the final set for November 20.
The two finalists will gain promotion to the 2021-2022 KRU Championship, the second tier league of Kenyan club rugby.
Referees will experiment with the 50:22 rule. It states that if the team in possession kicks the ball from inside their own half indirectly into touch inside their opponents’ 22, they will throw in the resultant lineout. The ball cannot be passed or carried back into the defensive half for the 50:22 to be played. The phase must originate inside the defensive half.
“The primary intention of this law is to encourage the defensive team to put more players in the backfield, thereby creating more attacking space and reducing defensive line speed,” said KRRA.
Other law trials are the goal line drop-out, flying wedge, one-player pre-latched and cleanout and the safety of the jackler.
In the goal line drop-out, if the ball is held up in in-goal, there is a knock-on from an attacking player in in-goal or an attacking kick is grounded by the defenders in their own in-goal, then play restarts with a goal line drop-out anywhere along the goal line.
This is to encourage variety in attacking play close to the goal line and to increase ball in play time by replacing a scrum with a kick that must be taken without delay.
Kenya Harlequin chairman Michael Wanjala said the new rules “will be a challenge to adapt to but we expect the game to be better”. He added: “The roll out should have been carried out better but we shall learn as we move ahead.” BY DAILY NATION