Rugby - World Rugby chief calls for more cards for dangerous tackles

The governing body has been on a campaign to eradicate dangerous tackles, particularly those that impact on the head, as the problem of concussion continues to blight the game.

Rugby - World Rugby chief calls for more cards for dangerous tackles

(Reuters)





"The cards are there to change behaviour," Gosper told the Daily Telegraph.

"They only continue to be a problem if behaviour does not change. The only way you can get player behaviour to change is to sanction with red cards and actually, we have probably not seen enough of it.

"I would say in many ways we have probably not been hard enough. We have not had the behaviour change that we are seeking yet, so we have to continue in that vein."

Gasper's comments come after several contentious tackles during the November internationals, including England Owen Farrell's tackle on South Africa's Andre Esterhuizen which went unpunished despite a video review.

Australia's Samu Kerevi also escaped punishment when he clattered into Leigh Halfpenny in Cardiff and left the Wales full back with concussion symptoms.

During the World Rugby under-20 championship this year, the governing body introduced a trial law change to lower the height of tackles to "below the nipple line" to reduce the risk of head injuries.

Gosper said not enough has been done to prevent injuries from collisions in the professional game and it was now up to the referees to make tougher calls on the field.

"The whole tackle law is to protect the ball carrier and the tackler, in fact mostly the tackler, given that two thirds of concussions occur to that player rather than the one carrying the ball," Gosper added.

"Dropping the height of the tackle is due to the statistics showing us that if the player is bent at the waist as they tackle, they are four times less likely to suffer a concussion."





(Reporting by Hardik Vyas in Bengaluru, editing by Nick Mulvenney)


Share
2 min read

Published

Source: Reuters


Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world