New 20-minute red card rule confirmed as part of Rugby Championship trial laws

A late change to the 2021 Rugby Championship will see the 20-minute red card law trialled in the tournament as one of numerous new rules that could be permanently adopted if successful.

Rugby Australia confirmed World Rugby had approved the change following a request by SANZAAR, the federation that oversees competitions involving the four Rugby Championship nations.

This last-minute tweak means the tournament—which gets underway on Saturday—will now trial six laws new to the Test circuit that could be implemented in time for the 2023 Rugby World Cup.

It was already known the Rugby Championship would be used as a proving ground for five new laws, most notably the goal-line drop-out and the 50-22 kick.

But fans can now look forward to another key change that could have huge implications, with teams afforded the opportunity to replace dismissed players after a 20-minute cool-off period.

It’s worth highlighting teams may only replace red-carded players with those who have been tactically substituted and once they have exhausted their other replacements.

This means Australia would have had little use for the law change when Marika Koroibete was sent off for a high tackle five minutes into their summer series decider against France on July 17.

The Wallabies went on to triumph 33-30 and clinch the series despite playing 75 minutes of the match a man down, even though Koroibete’s offence was later overturned.

Dave Rennie’s side will open the Rugby Championship against New Zealand on Saturday, hoping to overturn the 33-25 defeat they suffered at Eden Park in the Bledisloe Cup opener last weekend.

Both the goal-line drop-out and 50-22 rules were implemented for the first time under Test conditions in that match, with the teams boasting different experience with each new law.

All Blacks coach Ian Foster was confident his players would adapt to the goal-line drop-out after it was trialled in Super Rugby’s Aotearoa and Trans-Tasman competitions earlier in 2021.

“The goal line dropout, the guys are all over,” he said prior to the first Bledisloe Test.

“I don’t think it will take a while [to adapt to it because] it’s [already] been in existence.”

With this change, defending teams will drop-kick out from their own goal line if an attacking player is held up in the try area, or the ball is grounded after the attacking team kicks into that zone from open play.

The 50-22 law was trialled in Super Rugby AU, meanwhile, giving the Wallabies slightly more experience playing in match conditions with that rule in place.

This means the attacking team retains possession for a line-out if they kick to touch in the opposition’s 22—and the ball bounces in play first—from inside their own half.

The other three rules being tested relate to the breakdown and contact areas, specifically in regards to players binding, latching and the angles at which they’re allowed to hit the opponent.

New Zealand and Australia each had a player sent off in the first half when they clashed in November 2020. Ofa Tu'ungafasi was sent off for the visitors in Brisbane before Lachlan Swinton saw red for Australia shortly after.

The All Blacks can retain the Bledisloe Cup for the 19th year in succession if they seal another victory at Eden Park in Auckland, where the Wallabies haven’t won since 1986.

Argentina will then face South Africa in Saturday’s other Rugby Championship fixture, with the Springboks looking to build on their recent series win over the British and Irish Lions.

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