A petition to revoke the newly introduced RFU tackling height laws, has surpassed over 20,000 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.