The Six Nations tournament will implement a controversial 20-minute red card rule in 2025, allowing teams to replace players sent off for technical offences after a 20-minute period.
The change comes despite strong opposition from both Irish and French rugby authorities, who have raised concerns about player safety and the integrity of the game.
The new system, which has already proven popular in Super Rugby and the Rugby Championship, will maintain permanent red cards for deliberate dangerous play.
Under the new system, referees can award a 20-minute red card for technical offences that are deemed unintentional, such as accidental head-on-head contact.
Six Nations chiefs have brought about controversial new rules
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While the offending player must leave the field for the remainder of the match, their team can replace them with a substitute after 20 minutes have elapsed.
For deliberate and dangerous foul play, referees retain the ability to issue permanent red cards, meaning the team must play with 14 players for the entire match.
Traditional 10-minute yellow cards for less serious infractions remain unchanged.
The Irish Rugby Football Union strongly opposed the rule change, stating: “Player welfare and safety are paramount to the core values of the game and the option of a permanent red card for deliberate and intentional acts of foul play supports those values.”
French opposition was equally fierce, with a joint statement from the French federation, National Rugby League and players’ union describing it as an “unacceptable step backwards.”
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The French authorities warned that “turning this sanction into a temporary expulsion could encourage dangerous behaviour, thereby compromising player safety.”
Six Nations Rugby defended the trial, citing a “game-wide commitment to enhance the spectacle for fans” while maintaining player safety standards.
Six Nations chief of rugby Julie Paterson pointed to the Autumn Nations Series as evidence of progress. “Everyone is working together to ensure we are exploring new and innovative ways to make the game as safe as possible, alongside ambitions to enhance the spectacle for fans,” she said.
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The new 20-minute red cards are set to bring about some controversial calls over the Six Nations
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The change aims to prevent matches being significantly impacted by borderline red cards, as occurred in the 2023 Rugby World Cup final.
The Six Nations will also introduce several other rule changes, including strict time limits for set pieces.
Teams will have 30 seconds to form lineouts and scrums, while kickers must complete conversions within 60 seconds.
A new “protecting the 9” rule will establish the offside line at the centre of the scrum tunnel, though Ireland forward Tadhg Beirne criticised this as “ridiculous,” saying: “They may as well wrap the nines up in cotton wool at this stage.”
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Ireland and France are not happy with the rule changes
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The Six Nations’ implementation of the 20-minute red card trial comes ahead of World Rugby’s official selection of global law trials for January 2025.
The decision to proceed with the trial despite opposition highlights a growing alignment with southern hemisphere approaches, where the rule has received widespread approval.
The trial will extend across men’s, women’s and Under 20 versions of the Six Nations, with potential permanent adoption later this year.