The 20-minute red card is one of the big new features that World Rugby wants to make more widespread. A rule supposed to make the game more dynamic, by authorizing a replacement of the excluded player after 20 minutes. But for Ugo Mola, coach of Stade Toulousain, this innovation is not good for rugby.
In a recent interview for Midi Olympique, Mola does not mince his words. “ There is a primary desire which is to generate more spectacle “, he explains.
For the Toulouse technician, the new rules aim to make the game “ more ambitious, more playful and more complete. » But he doesn’t see how this specific rule could actually achieve that goal.
Mola notably evokes the parallel with the “ tactical injury replacements » in Top 14, which sometimes serve to circumvent the limits of coaching. “ The 20-minute red card is a clear mistake for me “, he asserts, pointing out the contradiction inherent in this rule. According to him, allowing a team to replace an expelled player amounts to offering him a “ joker » unworthy of the philosophy of the discipline.
« If you make a mistake that deserves a red card, but you allow a player to come in for you, that poses a philosophical problem for me. “, he explains. For Mola, this flexibility lessens the scope of the sanction and blurs the message of rigor that World Rugby intends to promote.
He also regrets the difficulty of implementing uniform rules. “ Our team sport is perhaps one of the sports that has seen its rules evolve the most in 20-30 years. “, he emphasizes. The constant adjustments complicate the task of referees, who must juggle sometimes contradictory directives.
If Mola is critical, it is because he defends a clear vision of his sport. “ If we managed to have the same rules from one championship to another, in our competitions, that would already be quite good. », he concludes. It’s true that that would already be a good start.
