Is "Through the gate" still relevant?

I feel like I might have missed some change to refereeing directives this season lossening the idea of having go through the gate to join a ruck.

In both the Premiership and European Cup it looks to me like players are constantly making side entries, often after running back from the other side of the ruck or spinning around after a tackle has been made.

I'm not a laws expert so I feel like I'm either missing something or referees are deciding not to ping players in order to avoid stopping the game so often.