The IRFU is “still considering” its position regarding the 20-minute red card which World Rugby is proposing being further trialled at elite levels of the game. By comparison, the proposal has been strongly opposed by a combination of ruling and player bodies in France.
The Fédération Française de Rugby (FFR), La Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR) and players’ body, Provale, have expressed “firm opposition” to the proposal, saying it is an “unacceptable step backwards”.
Driven by the southern hemisphere, this year’s Rugby Championship and Under-20 World Championship in South Africa (where there were only three red cards) trialled the new law for the first time, which enables a team to replace a red-carded player after 20 minutes in the sinbin.
World Ruby declared them to be “successful initial trials” but in a joint statement, the three French bodies maintained the “data collected remains insufficient” to go through with the proposal.
“Statistics provided by the FFR to World Rugby show that a red card does not systematically mean defeat for the penalised team,” the statement said. “Indeed, the analysis based on 480 Top 14 matches and Tier 1 international matches shows that only 60 per cent of the teams receiving a red card lost at the end of the match.”
The French said a red card is “a crucial tool” to deter “unsportsmanlike behaviour” and that without it the sport faces an “unacceptable step backwards on the measures put in place over the last few years to reduce head impacts”.
Following on from Josh Murphy’s red card against Ulster last Saturday night, the Connacht head coach Pete Wilkins said he remained undecided on the issue, but admitted: “Fundamentally, I think a red card is a red card. I think the nature of them is that they’re generally deemed serious enough that they deserve the punishment of a team going down to 14 players for the game.
Noting “the lower threshold regarding the tolerance of dangerous tackles”, Wilkins added: “I’m not quite sure what the neat solution is at this point.”
Wilkins is resigned to being without Murphy for their URC game against Leinster at the Dexcom Stadium next Saturday (kick-off 7.35pm).
“No, he’ll be heading to a hearing, or at least awaiting a judgment. I’ve not got a time frame on that yet. We’re presuming that he’s unavailable at this point and we’ll find out for how long after that.”
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