England cricket captain Ben Stokes has joined the growing outrage after the RFU moved to change the tackle height law.
The tackle height will be lowered to the waist from next season for all levels apart from the Premiership and Championship.
The RFU says “detailed guidelines” will be sent out to players, coaches and referees.
“We understand this is a significant change,” said a union spokesperson.
However, numerous clubs, players, coaches, and officials have expressed their concerns to the BBC, branding the law change unworkable, lamenting a lack of consultation, and fearing a mass player departure from the sport.
Stokes wrote on Twitter: “Let’s lower the tackle height but bring in a higher chance of the attackers knees hitting defenders in the head. And also let’s take out any consideration for instinctive athleticism in the heat of sport.”
A petition to revoke the newly introduced RFU tackling height laws, has surpassed over 40,000 signatures. The changed laws were introduced yesterday, banning a tackle above waist height at the community game. This includes National One and below for men’s rugby, and the Championship and below for the women’s game.
The petition was started by Ed Bartlett, a Sale Sharks fan who wrote on Change.org:
“Dropping the tackle height to below the waist will make the game a farcical spectacle to watch. Not allowing players to dip into tackles to bump tackles off is also a crazy decision, in a game that is not only about speed, but power too!”
“There will be yellow and red cards handed out like confetti.” “More likely to have head on knee contact, could it cause more injury?”
The petition is growing every minute, as frustrated fans and players respond to the RFU law change. High profile names in the professional game have also spoken out on the change. England Internationals Joe Marler and Jack Nowell criticised the change.
Statement: Four laws changes confirmed for the 2023 Six Nations
The 2023 Six Nations is fast approaching, so here’s a rundown of the little changes that are coming to the tournament this year.
Penalising negative player actions
Referees are expected to take action against negative player actions such as trapping players in the ruck, and players not attempting to play the ball in jackall situations.
A statement says: “Players are reminded about their responsibilities not to hold the ball or walk off with the ball at penalties – this reduces attacking options by the non-offending team and slows the game down unnecessarily and will be sanctioned.”
