the essential
This is one of the new features of the test matches played by the Blues in November. Three matches are on the program for the Tricolores: Japan, New Zealand and Argentina.
Its appearance in the range of disciplinary sanctions during Rugby matches is divisive. However, the 20-minute red card will be put in place during the 2024 fall tour. Series of test matches in which the Blues are participating.
Three matches are on their program: France-Japan this Saturday 9, France-New Zealand on the 16th, and France-Argentina Friday 22. During these matches, they may be faced with a 20-minute red card.
What is it about?
The principle: when a player is excluded from the game by the referee on a red card, he can be replaced after 20 minutes by a teammate from the bench, which puts an end to the numerical inferiority. As a reminder, the yellow card in rugby is synonymous with a temporary exclusion of 10 minutes.
Also read:
Rugby: towards a 20-minute red card? World Rugby could soon adopt new rules
The 20-minute red card has been tested in recent weeks, in the Women's Women's XV competition, and the Men's Under-20 World Cup.
How will it be applied in practice during the fall tour?
The 20-minute red card will not apply in the case of a truly serious offense, which will always be subject to a direct red card and permanent exclusion. Nor in “simple” yellow card scenarios.
For the moment, there is no plan for a specific card, possibly brandished by the referee, to signify the 20-minute red card. The man with the whistle will, in fact, show a yellow card, then a decision will be made at the end of a bunker: the offending player takes a seat on a chair at the edge of the field, while the video refereeing teams study the images, the game continues.
Also read:
Rugby: end of the Dupont law, free kick, 20-minute red card… Everything that will change from July 2024
At the end of this sequence, of the order of a few minutes, the decision will be made: yellow card, direct red card (definitive numerical inferiority) or 20 minutes red card (temporary numerical inferiority).
Will the 20-minute red card be definitively adopted?
Its implementation is the subject of numerous debates. In France, FFR, LNR and Provale (players' union) spoke out against it with one voice, believing that the measure “could encourage dangerous behavior, thus compromising the safety of players”. The nations of the southern hemisphere are rather in favor of it. Some referees do too, believing that this helps to reduce the pressure on the official when making a decision.
The decision on its final adoption will be made during a World Rugby vote on November 14.
