World Rugby has confirmed that it is exploring the Television Match Official Bunker concept to review possibly foul play red cards. A trial will be in play at the World Rugby U20 Championship in South Africa in June.
The new bunker concept will allow a Yellow Card awarded on-field to be upgraded to a Red Card during the 10-minute sin bin window.
World Rugby has already sanctioned a similar trial in Super Rugby Pacific this season and they say they are open to “innovations or technology that have the potential to assist officiating, enhance game flow and advance welfare.”
The Television Match Official (TMO) Bunker concept reflects that ambition of having the potential to reduce lengthy stoppages and promote accurate decision-making for foul play.
Speeding up the game
The evidence from Super Rugby suggests it’s having an impact with nearly a minute saved per card. The time taken managing on-field warnings and cards reduced from 1min 46s to 53s in the first four rounds of the competition. More than six minutes of ‘dead time’ has been removed from each game, according to Super Rugby data.
It should be said that their trial still maintains the use of a 20 minute red card which World Rugby continue to steer clear of globally due to opposition from core Unions in the northern hemisphere. Their announcement confirmed that the trials will only consider a permanent red card.
JWC Trial
The TMO Bunker trial at the World Rugby U20 Championship 2023 (also knows as the Junior World Cup (JWC)) will be based on the following principles:
- Clear and obvious red cards for foul play will receive a red card resulting in the player being permanently being removed from the game and unable to be replaced
- For any incident where a red card is not initially clear and obvious, a yellow card will be issued and dedicated foul play reviewers in a central bunker will review the incident using all available technology and footage
- Once 10 minutes has elapsed, the yellow card is either upheld and the player returns to the action or it is upgraded and the player permanently leaves the field, unable to be replaced
World Rugby says that there will be further consideration after the JWC to extend the trial to the World Cup warm up international window in the summer. That gives additional trials to occur before decisions are made about whether it should be used in Rugby World Cup 2023 in France. Any further adoption must be supported by the rugby stakeholders, including importantly match officials, players, unions and competitions.
Their statement also made clear that there was no proposal being discussed for an orange card, as reported in some outlets recently.
