Three law variations covering red card replacements, captain’s challenge and goal-line drop-outs will be used in the inaugural Guinness PRO14 Rainbow Cup.
The law trials have been approved by World Rugby for a competition which involves Irish, Italian, South African, Scottish and Welsh sides and starts on April 23.
Teams losing a player to a red card will be able to use a nominated substitute to replace the offender after a 20-minute period.
Captains will be allowed one challenge per match to review try-scoring and foul-play incidents, with the ability to look at any of the referee’s decisions in the final five minutes.
A drop-out will also be taken from anywhere on the goal line for ‘held-up over the line’, knock-ons that occur in goal or when the ball is grounded by a defending player in the in-goal area after a kick through.
