World Rugby has announced a major rule change ahead of the Nations Championships in November, banning two dangerous tackle techniques.
One of those techniques is the hip-drop, when a tackler drops their body weight onto the ball carrier's legs. Rugby league has also banned it, as union now follows suit after several nations raised concerns.
From November 1, a hip-drop tackle will be penalised. It’s a technique that has caused serious injuries in the past. This follows an investigation into players using this exact technique, prompted by the outcome of February’s Shape of the Game meeting.
World Rugby has established an expert tackle-height working group to investigate the issue. The group included Tappe Henning, Richie Grey, and Felix Jones, who reviewed lower tackle trials during the summer’s Junior World Championship and commissioned research from Leeds Beckett University, which analysed matches across rugby before recommending that the law on these tackles needed clarification.
That said, World Rugby will amend Law 9.13 to state that hip-drop tackles are dangerous play, with the sanction being a penalty. World Rugby is also emphasising penalising knee-drop tackles, in which a defender drops to one or even both knees before tackling the attacker.
These are rare tackle techniques. However, unlike the hip-drop, the knee-drop is already covered by the current laws of the game. The change now will make it clear to those involved that this can be sanctioned with a penalty.
On the new law amendments, World Rugby chair Brett Robinson said: “We’re grateful to unions for raising the issue of these types of tackles with us.
“My thanks go to the working group and wider World Rugby team for the speed and breadth of their research and analysis.
“These changes show the commitment across the globe to player welfare in rugby in action.
“Once we looked at the evidence, it was clear the hip-drop tackles, whilst rare, could cause significant leg injuries. It was also clear that knee-drop tackles were on the rise.
“Protecting player welfare is at the heart of everything that World Rugby does, and once we’d reviewed the analysis, we’ve acted quickly to ensure that dangerous tackles of this nature are removed from the game, starting this weekend.”
