WE HAVE PLEASURE IN PRESENTING THE FANTASTIC RUGBY WORLD CUP FINAL 2023 FROM 28/10/2023, WHERE THE ENORMITY OF THE EVENT GAVE WAY TO AN OVERBEARANCE OF PHYSICAL INSTINCT AT TIMES. (ON BOTH SIDES.) IN SHORT, BOTH SIDES WANTED TO WIN DESPERATELY.
THE ALL BLACKS PERFORM THEIR HAKA BEFORE THE MATCH
SAM CRANE’S TACKLE WITH SOUTH AFRICA’S JESSE KRIEL INVOKED ALL SORTS OF RULES AROUND HEAD CONTACT BY THE EXTREMELY EFFICIENT REF WAYNE BARNES AND SAM CRANE WAS PROMPTLY SENT OFF TO THE SIN BIN
SAM CRANE DID NOT RELISH BEING SENT TO THE SIN BIN
A WHILE LATER, HIS YELLOW CARD WAS UPGRADED TO A RED CARD, MEANING THAT NEW ZEALAND WOULD BE A MAN DOWN FOR THE REST OF THE MATCH
THE REF ISSUES A RED CARD TO SAM CRANE
BOTH TEAMS GAVE THEIR ABSOLUTE ALL
RUGBY WORLD CUP 2023 FINAL – NEW ZEALAND VS SOUTH AFRICA – 28/10/2023
BOTH SIDES SHOWED OFF THEIR INDIVIDUAL SKILLS
RUGBY WORLD CUP 2023 FINAL – SOUTH AFRICA LIFT THE CUP FOR THE FOURTH TIME! – 28/10/2023
RUGBY WORLD CUP 2023 FINAL – NEW ZEALAND VS SOUTH AFRICA EPIC FULL-TIME SCENES – 28/10/2023
RUGBY WORLD CUP 2023 FINAL – NEW ZEALAND VS SOUTH AFRICA – SAM CRANE PAYS TRIBUTE TO HIS ALL BLACK SIDE AFTER ONE-POINT LOSS – 28/10/2023
THERE’S BEEN LOT’S OF CHATTER ABOUT WHY A RED CARD WAS GIVEN WHEN A YELLOW CARD WOULD DO – SO FOR THOSE SCRATCHING THEIR HEADS – HERE ARE THE RULES FOR HEAD CONTACT WHICH WERE UPDATED IN 2017.
WORLD RUGBY ANNOUNCES NEW MEASURES TO LIMIT CONTACT WITH THE HEAD – 3 JANUARY 2017
“World Rugby has further strengthened its commitment to injury prevention by announcing details of a zero-tolerance approach to reckless head contact in the sport.
While injuries in the game are not on the rise, the federation continues to be proactive in furthering evidence-based strategies to reduce injury risk for all players.
In a change to law, World Rugby has redefined illegal (high) tackle categories and increased sanctions to deter high tackles via a law application guideline. This will apply at all levels of the game from 3 January 2017 introducing minimum on-field sanctions for reckless and accidental contact with the head, effectively lowering the acceptable height of the tackle. The guideline will be supported with a global education programme.
HEAD INJURY EDUCATION
World Rugby has announced new measures to limit contact with the head.
The approach, approved by the World Rugby Council after extensive expert, independent and union evaluation, combines with new disciplinary sanctions and a re-focus of match officials on dangerous play. It will provide a package of measures that aims to change culture in the sport to ensure that the head is a no-go area.
World Rugby Chairman Bill Beaumont said: “World Rugby continues to be proactive in aligning with the latest evidence-based recommendations in this priority player welfare area to ensure players and coaches at all levels of the game are appropriately educated, managed and protected when it comes to head impacts and injury within the environment of a contact sport.
“We believe that we are playing a leading role in terms of the development and implementation of best-practice interventions and this important study further reflects our commitment to an evidence-based approach to player welfare. We believe that the invaluable data from this study will inform the law review process and lead to changes in playing or training practices.”
Ireland prop Tadhg Furlong said: “When it comes to protecting the head and neck of players, everyone is rightly very cautious now. 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. When it comes to dealing effectively with concussion in sport, rugby is at the forefront. The International Rugby Players’ Association (IRPA) 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.”
World Rugby Chief Medical Officer Dr Martin Raftery added: “The findings of this important research study will also be prepared into a series of scientific articles that we aim to have published in peer-reviewed journals. We continue to welcome and facilitate all quality research for the betterment of the game in this priority area.
“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.”
From 3 January, two new categories of dangerous tackles will carry penalty offences to deter and eradicate high tackles:
Reckless tackle
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. 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.
Minimum sanction: Yellow card
Maximum sanction: Red card
Accidental tackle
When making contact with another player during a tackle or attempted tackle or during other phases of the game, if a player makes accidental contact with an opponent’s head, either directly or where the contact starts below the line of the shoulders, the player may still be sanctioned. This includes situations where the ball-carrier slips into the tackle.
Minimum sanction: Penalty
Global education programme
World Rugby will support this initiative with a global awareness and education programme aimed at:
Reinforcing the zero-tolerance culture regarding head contact in the game at all levels using practical advice and visual educational materials
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Educating that illegal tackles are not necessarily defined by where they start as they can slip up from a legal position to make contact with the neck/head
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Educating that “bent at the waist” while tackling and entering into contact is the optimal position for injury prevention
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Promoting best-possible technique to protect the head – expert advice will be obtained from elite defence coaches to identify the best tackle technique and the best impact position for the ball-carrier, including guidelines on double and treble tackling.
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World Rugby is also investigating the practicality of a closed trial of a lowered tackle height at community age-grade level in 2017.
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Extensive research programme
This ground-breaking programme is entirely evidence-based and these interventions have been developed by game experts following extensive research examining videos of more than 600 incidents leading to head injury assessments (HIA)* occurring across 1,516 elite-level matches globally between 2012 and 2015.
Specifically, World Rugby investigated circumstantial and law factors that may contribute to head injury events to enable the international federation’s game expert group to determine whether potential law amendments or other interventions are indicated.
The study focused on tackle injuries and considered a number of conditions associated with the tackle including: The presence of foul play; what happened at the preceding event; the nature and angle of contact; body positions at the point of impact; the tackle height; the relative velocity at the time of impact; the number of tacklers involved; the type of tackle; and other variables.
The data confirmed that 76 per cent of all head injuries occur in the tackle, that the incidence of injury for the tackler is more than two and a half times greater than the ball-carrier and that tackle height is a contributing factor.
Headline findings:
611 HIA incidents were reviewed from 1,516 elite matches
76 per cent of HIA incidents occur in the tackle
72 per cent of HIA incidents in the tackle occur to the tackler
Body position, speed and direction of tackle all influence risk
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A specialist multi-disciplinary injury prevention group of game experts, comprising elite coaches and individuals with playing and match officiating experience at the elite and community levels was tasked with reviewing the data. The group then made recommendations to World Rugby’s Law Review Group and education departments for consideration with the following injury prevention interventions proposed to and approved by World Rugby’s Rugby and Executive Committees.”
IT’S GREAT THAT THE RULES ARE SO STRICTLY ADHERED TO WHEN IT COMES TO PLAYER HEALTH. BUT WHAT I DON’T UNDERSTAND IS WHY ISN’T THE SCRUM CAP MANDATORY FOR ALL?
THE RUGBY ‘SCRUM CAP’ – WHY HASN’T IT BEEN MADE MANDATORY?
AND A LITTLE SUGGESTION ABOUT THE RE-FAMILIARISATION OF PLAYERS WITH THE RULES – IN THAT CASE.
AT THE MOMENT, SCRUM CAPS ARE A MATTER OF CHOICE
IT WAS A FANTASTIC MATCH TO WATCH, AND NEW ZEALAND ONLY LOST BY ONE POINT WITH ONE MAN DOWN, SO CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL!
THE MATCH WAS DYNAMIC, AND FULL OF ACTION, WITH BOTH SIDES TRYING THEIR VERY BEST TO WIN. BE PROUD!
