New red card rule confirmed for Rugby Championship

NEWS: World Rugby has approved a SANZAAR's request to use the 20-minute red card law trial in the 2021 Rugby Championship.

It is one of six law trials that will be introduced in the tournament.

"If a player is red-carded, they may be replaced after 20 minutes by another player. The 20 minutes from when a player is red-carded to when they may be replaced is measured as 'game time'," said a statement.

"This follows the same measurement of time already in place for a yellow-carded player in the sin bin [mean sin bin clock is stopped when the game clock is stopped].

"A player receives a yellow card and is sin-binned for 10 minutes. If the same player, then returns to the field after serving their 10 mins suspension and subsequently receives a 2nd yellow card, which equates to an automatic red card. After a further 20 minutes the red-carded player can be replaced.

"A player who has been tactically replaced is able to return to the field to replace a red-carded player.

"Any red carded player cannot return under any circumstance."

Last month the World Rugby Executive Committee agreed to approve the following Global Law Trials for implementation for competitions commencing on or after August 1:

Welfare-focused law trials approved for global trial

• 50:22: This law trial is intended to create space via a tactical choice for players to drop out of the defensive line in order to prevent their opponents from kicking for touch, reducing impact of defensive line speed – operational in Super Rugby AU.
• Goal-line drop out: This law trial is intended to reduce the number of scrums, reward good defence, encourage counter-attacking and increase the rate of ball in play – operational in Super Rugby AU, Super Rugby Aotearoa, Super Rugby Trans-Tasman and the Rainbow Cup.

Welfare-focused breakdown law amendments approved for global trial

• Pre-bound pods of players: Outlawing the practice of pods of three or more players being pre-bound prior to receiving the ball – the sanction will be a penalty kick.
• Sanctioning the lower limb clear-out: Penalising players who target/drop their weight onto the lower limbs of a jackler – the sanction will be a penalty kick.
• Tightening law relating to latching: One-player latch to be permitted, but this player has the same responsibilities as a first arriving player (i.e. must stay on feet, enter through gate and not fall to floor) – the sanction will be a penalty kick.