Sanzaar’s drive to introduce the 20-minute red card to Test rugby will reportedly go a World Rugby vote in May.
The law, which has been a regular feature in Super Rugby since 2020, allows a team to replace a red-carded player after 20 minutes.
Sanzaar chief executive Brendan Morris told Stuff.co.nz that after attending the recent World Rugby “Shape of the Game” forum in London, a proposal has been made for the general council to vote on at the next meeting in May.
In order for the 20-minute red card to be advanced to a global trial, it would need a 75% majority of the council vote.
“The [Shape of the Game] workshop made some recommendations, one of which was that the 20-minute red card would go to a global trial,” Morris told Stuff. “In the short term, the Six Nations bloc came back to us and said, ‘Well, we’d prefer to go to a closed trial and trial it and then come back and have another look’.
“But where we ended up is that the recommendation through to World Rugby’s council meeting on 9 May is that we’re looking to go to a global trial.
“For that to be accepted, you’ve got to get a 75% majority vote of the voting members of council.”
There are, however, concerns over player welfare and whether a 20-minute red card is enough of a deterrent for dangerous play.
However, Morris said that the law could be accompanied by tougher off-field sanctions.
“The introduction of the 20-minute cards is not going backwards, but it’s about getting everything on-field and off-field aligned,” he said. “The sanctions off-field may to go up a little bit to make it more a deterrent.“
Photo: Fiona Goodall/Getty Images
The post Sanzaar to push through red card change? appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
Src: sarugbymag.co.za
