Irish Rugby Legal Tackle Height Adjustment Trial

The IRFU Union Committee have formally voted to opt into World Rugby’s global trial to lower the tackle height in the community game to below the line of the sternum (June 1st 2023).

It follows an earlier vote by the IRFU Rugby Committee and an extensive community consultation process with Irish Rugby stakeholders.

The trial will apply to all amateur IRFU and provincial competitions at age-grade and adult levels in clubs and schools for the 2023/24 and 2024/25 seasons.

New World Rugby and laboratory studies have shown that head injury risk is at its highest when tackles are made to the head and shoulder and lowest when tackles are made to the belly area.

The purpose of this trial will be to incentivise greater use of the belly tackle and ultimately reduce incidents of head-on-head impact in the tackle.

[factsandlogic]

Remeber when faf de klerk did a "safety tackle" against france i think and was out cold for a few minutes?

[ciaranbrk]

Yeah cause that helped Gary Ringrose who got a hip to the head and left for a HIA and many other players who chop tacke and get knees and shins.