Category: Rugby Union

• Trial law designed to reduce head-to-head contact in tackles
• Research shows concussion risks far higher in tackles above sternum

Rugby Australia has confirmed that it will implement a new trial that will see the legal height of tackles in the game lowered to below the sternum from February.

The trial is designed to reduce the risk of head-to-head and head-to-shoulder contact between ball carriers and tacklers. World Rugby research has shown the risk of concussion is more than four times higher when the tackler’s head is above the ball carrier’s sternum.

The new 9.13 law will see match officials place greater emphasis on preventing a ball carrier “dipping” into a tackle and placing themselves, and potentially the defender, in an unsafe position for contact. However, it will not change the ability for an attacking player to “pick-and-go” when starting and continuing at a low body height.
The two-year trial comes after Rugby Australia announced its support for World Rugby’s global research initiative last March, and will apply to all levels of Rugby below Super Rugby level when introduced in February. It follows more than six years of research that has already seen trials of lower tackle heights undertaken in nations including France, England, New Zealand, South Africa, Ireland, Wales and Scotland.

Preliminary data in South Africa has shown a 30 per cent reduction in concussions, while France recorded a 64 per cent reduction in head-on-head contact – as well as a 14 per cent increase in participation on pre-COVID levels.

This change in law will apply to all Australian rugby union competitions below Super Rugby that commence on or after 10 February, 2024, through till the end of 2025, and includes school and pathway competitions to protect the code’s young players.

Since their abysmal 2023 World Cup, in which the Wallabies failed to make the finals for the first time in 36 years, Australian Rugby has reeled from crisis to crisis, with coach Eddie Jones quitting in October and CEO Hamish McLennan rolled from the leadership in a boardroom coup last month.

• Top state becomes first to commit to centralisation plan
• RA say aligned system is essential for future of game

Rugby Australia and the NSW Rugby Union have agreed to the first step in the strategic reset of Australian rugby. NSW becomes the first state member union to formally commit to Rugby Australia’s plan to align the sport across the country.

The agreement to centralise means responsibility for the operations of the Waratahs’ professional entities will be passed on to RA from 1 January. RA will take responsibility for the Waratahs’ high-performance operations, assets, liabilities, and commercial arrangements. All Waratahs employees will continue in their current roles.

The flavour of the competition will never be the same and it remains to be seen if Australia and New Zealand teams can fill the gap

For 26 years club rugby in the southern hemisphere had a distinctive flavour profile. There have been some interesting garnishes, with produce from Japan, Argentina and, more recently, the Pacific Islands enriching the plate. But from the dawn of the professional age in 1996 until the Covid-enforced hiatus in 2020, the three main ingredients have come from New Zealand, Australia and South Africa.

But now Super Rugby has “lost a bit of spice”, at least according to John Plumtree, the now Durban-based Sharks coach and former All Blacks assistant.

• Queensland 25-22 victory halts Chiefs’ 10-game victory streak
• Western Force climb to eighth after 34-14 win over Fijian Drua

Queensland Reds coach Brad Thorn has declared they are “not dead yet” after a historic upset in New Zealand rescued their season.

A 25-22 win in New Plymouth on Friday night was the Reds’ first in New Zealand since 2013. It ended a 21-game Super Rugby losing streak in the country and the Chiefs’ 10-game unbeaten run to begin this season.