What if a red card wasn't permanent? This is an innovation that shatters all the certainties of sports enthusiasts. The World Rugby authorities had this idea – a bit crazy – in order to minimize the effect of an expulsion. A team could thus replace with another player an element who received a red card after twenty minutes spent at 14.
A meaningless decision.
Thomas Kohler, manager of CS Nuits
This actually has the consequence of canceling the numerical inferiority. Referees also always have the power to distribute permanent red cards (without the possibility of replacing the excluded player) for deliberate and dangerous foul play. On the other hand, they will have the possibility of giving a temporary red card when it comes to faults considered technical. “It’s an aberration in player protection,” thunders Thomas Kohler.
Manager Nuiton details his strong opposition. “If we accept that, we legitimize high tackles. A red card is an individual but also a collective sanction. In a match, nothing is prohibitive (40% of the Top 14 teams have also managed to win by being at 14). This is a meaningless decision. »
“We lose our soul”
For Eddy Joliveau, coach of CS Beaune (Regional 1), former director of the Dijon Espoirs division, nothing required such a reform. “I would like a little stability in the rules. By wanting to attract an audience, we lose our soul. How does a guy who murders another player deserve to be replaced? By changing rugby, we distort it. There is already a rule, you just have to apply it. For me, World Rugby is wrong. »
The story is the same for Romain Kusiolek, head of training at Stade Dijonnais. “Rugby is evolving. It is very good that the refereeing follows and that the rules are brought into line with the game. But, for now, I think it is frowned upon. »
The former scrum half supports his reasoning and summarizes an argument shared by all: “There is the question of security. We now have connected mouthguards, referring doctors, a whole bunch of excellent things. There, if you know that in 20 minutes, you can return to equal numbers, you do what is necessary to eliminate the best opposing player or the kicker opposite. You then turn around before being at 15 again. If I thought about it, I must not be the only one…”
A perverse effect that should not be overlooked without forgetting the abstruse aspect of this measure for the general public. If this decision is not as absurd as the one proposed by Joe Mazzulla, coach of the Boston Celtics, aiming to authorize fighting on the floors, it is far from unanimous. The coach of the Quinze de France, Fabien Galthié, also opposed it.
Still, validated by the World Rugby executive committee, these rules could still be adopted worldwide if approved at the body's council meeting on November 14.
▶ Under consideration Other reforms are currently being tested. Here are some examples: a 30-second limit for playing scrums and throw-ins, the possibility of making a volley save within 22 meters on throw-ins, the obligation to play the ball from the first stop of a maul and neither the second, or the possibility of letting the game continue if a throw into touch is not straight, as long as the opposing team has not contested in the air.
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