URC play-offs to be decided by penalty kicks
NEWS: Ahead of this weekend's United Rugby Championship quarterfinals it has been confirmed that extra time or a place-kick competition will determine the winner should any game finish as a draw after 80 minutes.
The competition rules determine that in the event of a tie at full-time of a playoff match, the winner of that match shall be determined by reference to the following rules: extra time, place-kicking or sudden death.
Extra Time
A 5-minute break will take place between full-time and extra time
Extra time consists of two periods of 10 minutes each
A break of one minute will take place between the ET periods
If the score is equal after ET then the team who has scored the most tries will be the winner
If the score and tries scored are equal after ET a place-kick competition will take place
Place Kicking
Coin tosses will decide which end the kicks take place and which team goes first
Each team will select three kickers who each take two kicks at the goal
Each kicker has 1 minute to strike the ball
Each team has a total of six kicks at the goal
The kicks will take place from six designated marks between the 22m and 10-metre lines
Sudden Death
Sudden death will occur if the score is level after each team has taken 6 kicks
All sudden death kicks will take place from the centre of the 10-metre line.
Here is a look at the protocols:
Extra-time Protocol
If the score is tied at the end of a Knock-Out Match, then extra time will be played, consisting of two periods, each of ten minutes plus any stoppage time in each period.
At the final whistle signalling the end of normal time in the Match, there will be a five-minute break. Neither the teams nor the Match officials may leave the Playing Enclosure during this break, save for exceptional reasons. The coaching/management/medical staff of each Club shall be permitted onto the Playing Area during this break to bring water, nourishment and treatment to their Players, but they must leave the Playing Area before the end of the break.
After the five-minute break, the teams will swap ends and the Club that kicked off the first half of the Match will kick off the first period of extra time. After ten minutes the referee will stop the Match and the teams will swap ends again while there is a break of one minute. Neither the teams nor the Match officials may leave the Playing Enclosure during this break, save for exceptional reasons. The coaching/management/medical staff of each Club shall be permitted onto the Playing Area during the break to bring water, nourishment and treatment to their Players, but they must leave the Playing Area before the end of the break.
After the one-minute break, the Club that kicked off the second half of the Match will kick off the second period of extra time. After ten minutes the referee will stop the Match. If at that point there is no winner of the Match according to the criteria set out in the Tournament Rules, then the referee will conduct a place-kick competition to determine the winner.
Place-kick Competition
If at the end of a Knock-Out Match, after extra time has been played, the scores remain equal and the number of tries scored in the Match (including extra time) is equal, then the referee will conduct a place-kick competition to determine the winner of the Match, according to the following procedures:
All Players and Match officials will remain on the Playing Area. The referee will call the captains of the two teams together and will conduct two-coin tosses. The first toss of the coin will decide which team selects the end at which all place-kicks must be taken; the second toss of the coin will decide which team selects whether it wishes to kick first or second in sequence. For the avoidance of doubt, it may be that the same team wins both tosses, in which case it may select the end at which all place-kicks must be taken and whether it wishes to kick first or second in sequence. The team selected to kick first will be referred to as “Team A” and the team that kicks second will be referred to as “Team B”.
Each team must nominate three Players to take part in the competition. For the purposes of this Appendix Three, each Player will be allocated a number: 1, 2 or 3, and will be referred to throughout the place-kick competition as “Kicker 1”, “Kicker 2” or “Kicker 3”, respectively.
Only Players on the Playing Area at the final whistle of extra time may be nominated. No substituted Players replaced Players or Players who have been shown a red card may take part at any time. Any Player who has been Temporarily Suspended and who remains in the ‘sin bin’ at the time of the final whistle of extra time may not take part in the place-kick competition.
The Match officials and the six nominated Players (three from each team) will assemble on the halfway line. Coaching/management/medical staff and Players not nominated must gather and remain in their respective Club’s technical zone. No one other than the Match officials and the participating Players is allowed in the part of the Playing Area being used for the competition (including around the Playing Area, behind the posts, etc.).