Eddie Jones says that World Rugby has shifted its view on deliberate knock-ons after talks at the latest meeting in London ahead of the Nations Championship.

It’s become almost a stock-standard decision that when a player attempts an interception using just one hand, and they don’t get it right, they are penalised and subsequently yellow-carded.

World Rugby shift view on intentional knock-ons

Kurt-Lee Arendse was sin-binned for precisely this during the Nations Championship clash against England in July, but there are countless examples of similar incidents when a player has attempted an intercept with one hand but hasn’t got it right.

Jones attended the World Rugby coaches and officials meeting in London ahead of the November Nations Championship matches and cast a keen eye over the proceedings, stating that Rassie Erasmus and Dave Rennie were the loudest voices among the coaches.

However, the thing that pleased Jones the most was the realisation that the deliberate knock-on law was too harsh and needed to be officiated more kindly.

“Intentional knock-ons were a big talking point at our coaching meeting. We’ve been through a period where if you stuck out your hand or tried to catch the ball and you didn’t catch it, it was almost automatically a yellow card,” he revealed in his Daily Mail column.

“Everything was deemed intentional. It was quite absurd. Now I think we’ve got to the realisation that you can stick out one hand to try to catch the ball.”

Springboks stars’ influence

Jones hailed the ability of Springboks flyers Cheslin Kolbe and Bryan Habana to make interceptions and confirmed that an agreement was reached that only if the hand motion is hitting downwards will players be penalised.

“Some of the best interceptors, like Cheslin Kolbe, come in late, stick out their hand and try to knock the ball up,” the experienced head coach explained.

“South Africa defend high so they go for intercepts more. Kolbe is a genius at it.

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“A good player can just anticipate the flight of the ball. It comes down to the ability to see what the passer is doing, where they’re looking to pass the ball, and then find the right time for the intercept.

“South Africa winger Bryan Habana was superb at it, too. You need exceptional speed, meaning you can accelerate on to the ball and time your run. There was a really good agreement for this autumn that unless the motion is hitting the ball down, then it’s not an intentional knock-on.”

Speaking to the media after naming the All Blacks team to face Scotland at Murrayfield on Saturday, Rennie revealed that the brakefoot, hip drop and knee drop tackles were among the other topics discussed.