Rugby to trial lower tackle height at elite level amid concussion concerns

Rugby remains “very, very far away” from a law change to lower tackle heights at elite level despite “positive results” from trials in the amateur game, the world governing body said on Monday.

World Rugby said trials over the past two seasons, involving 11 unions around the world, setting the legal height of tackles at the sternum – or breastbone – have led to a change in player behavior at amateur level, with the number of vertical tackles falling to between 8 and 10 per cent. Some unions have also reported a reduction in concussion rates.

He will now be tested at next year’s Under-20 World Championship in Georgia before an assessment is made ahead of the possibility of further trials at elite level.

“It is important to emphasize that at this stage we are very far from changing the law at elite level,” said Mark Harrington, head of player welfare and rugby services at World Rugby. “However, if this and subsequent trials show positive results in terms of player welfare, player feedback and fan enjoyment, then as a sport we must embrace it.”

The current legal tackling height at the elite level is aligned with the shoulder. In the amateur game, it should move to sternum height from July.

“We will leave no stone unturned to make the game as safe as possible,” World Rugby chairman Brett Robinson said. “That said, protecting what makes rugby, rugby, is an essential part of my role.”

Concussions have become a major problem over the past decade.

More than 1,000 former players are involved in legal action against rugby’s governing bodies, claiming they suffered brain damage during their careers. The former players claim that governing bodies “failed to take reasonable steps to protect them from the impacts of concussions and concussions during their playing careers, despite knowledge of the risks”, according to London law firm Rylands Garth.

World Rugby, which is facing prosecution alongside England’s Rugby Football Union and the Welsh Rugby Union, said it was awaiting full details of the complaints and was building a “strong foundation of world-leading initiatives designed to make rugby union as safe as possible”.

This includes reviewing the legal tackling height and introducing smart mouthguard technology.

___

AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby