The Australian Rugby Union will roll out a dramatic "zero tolerance" crackdown on head-high tackles in time for Super Rugby and the Sydney Sevens tournament in February.
In an effort to eradicate dangerous tackles from the game and lower the incidences of concussion, World Rugby has introduced a minimum yellow card sanction for reckless contact with the head.
![New penalties: Adam Ashley-Cooper cops a high shot from Tevita Kuridrani during a Super Rugby match in 2014.](/web/20161217211704im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/t/b/g/g/6/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gtbgf5.png/1481782141677.jpg)
A player will be penalised for even accidental contact with an opponent's head, including instances where the ball-carrier slips into the tackle.
But for anything deemed reckless, the minimum sanction will be 10 minutes in the sin bin and the maximum sanction a red card, which means a player must leave the field and play no further part in a game.
"A player is deemed to have made reckless contact during a tackle or attempted tackle or during other phases of the game if in making contact, the player knew or should have known that there was a risk of making contact with the head of an opponent, but did so anyway," a World Rugby statement said. "This sanction applies even if the tackle starts below the line of the shoulders. This type of contact also applies to grabbing and rolling or twisting around the head/neck area even if the contact starts below the line of the shoulders."
The new measures, which were formulated with input from a panel featuring England coach Eddie Jones, former Argentina international Agustin Pichot, Ireland great Paul O'Connell, referees boss Alain Rolland and others, will apply at all levels of the game from January 3.
They follow an announcement last month on tougher bans for foul play. Players cited after games for dangerous tackles that make contact with the head will face a minimum six-week ban, while those who target the eyes at the lower end of the scale could face at least a 12-week suspension.
The ARU endorsed the move on Thursday and said the new rules would be rolled out in Australia in February.
"The welfare of all rugby players – young and old, male and female – is the No.1 priority for us in Australian Rugby, and along with World Rugby we are dedicated to implementing best-practice safety measures across all levels of our game," ARU chief Bill Pulver said.
"We wholeheartedly endorse World Rugby's recent announcement of new law applications that make it clear that head and neck safety is a fundamental premise of our game."
The measures are the first concrete action to come out of a study of more than 600 head injury assessment [HIA] cases over a four-year period, more than 75 per cent of which were the result of the tackle contest.
World Rugby took the data to a multi-disciplinary panel, including Jones, Pichot, O'Connell and others, who met in Dublin over two days in August. It is understood the panel felt the only way to lower the incidences of dangerous tackles around the head and neck was to adopt a zero tolerance approach.
Ireland prop Tadhg Furlong said the changes reflected growing caution in the game.
"The culture around concussion has completely changed and it's no longer acceptable for players to continue in a game if they're even suspected of having a concussion," Furlong said. "When it comes to dealing effectively with concussion in sport, rugby is at the forefront. The International Rugby Players' Association supports any measure that protects our welfare and we are in favour of this initiative, which we believe will help further to reduce head and neck injuries at all levels of the game. Rugby is a physical sport and there will always be a level of injury-risk associated with it but the sport is doing as much as it can to make it as safe as possible."
Leading the research was World Rugby's chief medical officer, Martin Raftery, an Australian. Raftery said the research would also be prepared as a series of scientific articles that would be submitted to peer-reviewed journals.
"We continue to welcome and facilitate all quality research for the betterment of the game in this priority area," he said. "World Rugby is committed to playing a leading role in the sporting head injury agenda and continues to drive forward evidence-based strategies in education, prevention, management and research that are proving successful in protecting players at all levels of the sport."