Mauls Are Scoring More Tries, and a Summer Law Change Helps Explain Why
Mauls are producing tries more consistently than at any point since the statistic began being recorded, according to Oval Insights analysis of the past seven seasons of November Test rugby and the English top flight.
A maul is what happens when the ball carrier is held up and both sides bind together on their feet. Instead of the ball going to ground, the group drives forward as one unit, and the ball carrier can be grounded over the line for a try. It is one of rugby union's most old-fashioned weapons, and it has been quietly getting more dangerous.
The numbers show the change. Maul tries averaged 0.67 per game in the current November international window, up from 0.3 per game in 2025. In the Premiership, the top English club league, they have averaged 0.42 per game this season, compared with 0.23 over the opening five rounds last season.
Much of the credit goes to a law change made in the summer of 2026. Defenders can no longer "swim" up the side of a maul to reach the ball. Once a defender has moved past the ball and can no longer push, they must detach and rejoin from behind their own back foot. Before, they could slide along the side of the group and try to pull it apart. Now that route is closed.
England forward Alex Coles told BBC Sport that the maul now comes down to who wins the first second. Whoever gets their drive going first, and keeps their feet, is the side that gains ground. Defenders have less room to disrupt once the group is moving.
The same mindset is changing how teams use the ball in other ways. Across six Test matches, teams kicked for goal just three times, and chose the corner on almost every other occasion. Going to the corner means kicking the ball into touch, so that a lineout can be used to set up a driving maul or a set of attacking phases. The alternative is the penalty kick, which is worth three points.
That choice was on show in March. England led Italy by two points when captain Maro Itoje told fly-half Fin Smith to take three points from a penalty just outside the 22-metre line, the area near the try line where a kick at goal is most likely to be attempted. Itoje's call put points on the scoreboard rather than territory and possession in the lineout.
Coaches and players now have to weigh that trade-off again. A three-point kick is certain to add to the score. A lineout drive can be worth far more if it works, but it can also stall, and a turnover ends the attack. The new maul law has tilted that calculation towards trying for the try.
For supporters, the message is simple. The next time a maul rolls forward and a defender peels away, watch the back foot. That small rule is where a lot of the new tries are coming from.
