With a view to improving the game, World Rugby should soon generalize a series of new rules.
Among these changes is the introduction of a 20-minute red card.
But how would this work in practice?
A sport in perpetual evolution. In order to increase effective playing time (and therefore reduce downtime) and improve the experience for spectators, Word Rugby continues to amend its regulations. “A series of experimental rules […] has taken a new step towards global adoption following successful experiments and the support provided by the executive council of the international federation”announced on Tuesday October 8 in a press release, the international body which manages rugby union and rugby sevens.
Among these new features, which could be applied on all oval fields after the green light from the World Rugby Council on November 14, one is particularly noteworthy: a 20-minute red card.
A possibility of replacing the excluded player after 20 minutes
The idea of introducing a 20-minute red card which would replace a classic red card is based on a simple double postulate. On the one hand, the latter “distorts” a match, even more so when it is inflicted in the first minutes, since the excluded player’s team must finish numerically inferior. In a way, it spoils the suspense and therefore potentially the show. In addition, and this is related, the referee can sometimes be hesitant about the idea of issuing a red card, precisely because the face of a match can be completely changed by such a decision, even though certain gestures deserve it with a view to protecting the health of the players.
As a result, with the new system, the targeted player would always be excluded for the rest of the match. However, his team could make a change after 20 minutes and thus return to numerical equality with its opponent. The idea is to consider that playing with 14 players for 20 minutes is already sufficiently penalizing on a collective level.
At the risk of stripping the red card of its symbolic dimension and somewhat distorting the sport? “The positive results of the experiments reassure us that these adjustments will bring lasting benefits to players and supporters”simply assures Sir Bill Beaumont, president of World Rugby, saying he wants “to make rugby as enjoyable as possible for the public, whilst maintaining the integrity and competitive nature of the game”.
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Other changes in the pipeline include reducing the time allowed to score a conversion, to contest scrums and throw-ins; the establishment of a volley stop within 22 meters from a return, or the establishment of a single stop during mauls.
“The proposed innovations align with World Rugby’s mission to grow the sport’s audience by making it more accessible and engaging.”insists the organization in charge of the rules of the game and the organization of the main tournaments. We ask to see.
