World Rugby permanently lowers tackle height in community game after two-year trial

World Rugby has permanently lowered the legal tackle height in community rugby, with the change ratified by the World Rugby Council in Dublin and set to take effect from July 1 for seasons beginning after that date.

Under the new law, unions may choose a legal tackle height of either the waist or the base of the sternum. The decision follows a two-year trial programme that tracked more than 150,000 tackles across 10 unions. World Rugby said the data showed that lowering the tackle height reduced the frequency of upright tackles, which carry the greatest risk of avoidable head impacts.

World Rugby chairman Brett Robinson welcomed the adoption. “Player welfare is at the heart of everything that rugby does,” he said. “The trials from around the world show that this is the right thing to do to make our game safer and more enjoyable for community players who are the lifeblood of our sport.”

Robinson also credited the broad coalition involved in reaching the decision. “I would like to thank all the unions and academics and most importantly players and referees who took part in the trials that have helped us to reach this point.”

The governing body will now extend testing to the elite game, with initial trials scheduled for the World Rugby Junior World Championship in Georgia later this month.

Four further law changes were also confirmed alongside the tackle height amendment. The scrum brake foot law and restrictions on water carriers entering the field of play have both been adopted into full law, as has the formal recognition of the television match official as a permanent member of the officiating team. Elite competitions will also retain the option to use 20-minute red cards at their discretion.