World Rugby lowers legal tackle height in community rugby

World Rugby Council has approved adoption into full law a lower tackle height in community rugby, following positive trials over the last two years. The law – allowing Unions to choose either waist or base of the sternum – will come into effect from 1 July 2026 for seasons that start after that date.

Community rugby legal tackle height to set to be lowered from 1 July.

10 unions trialed the sternum or waist tackle height for tacklers over 2 years with over 150,000 tackles studied

Player welfare is at the heart of the move to full law.

Several other successful law trials adopted into full law including the scrum brake foot

World Rugby Council has approved adoption into full law a lower tackle height in community rugby, following positive trials over the last two years. The law – allowing Unions to choose either waist or base of the sternum – will come into effect from 1 July 2026 for seasons that start after that date.

The decision, taken by Council today in Dublin, Ireland, comes after extensive evaluation of trials run across 10 national member unions involving more than 150,000 studied tackles demonstrated positive player behavior.

The trials showed a lower legal tackle height was effective in reducing the chances of upright tackles occurring, which are the most likely to cause avoidable head impacts.

Unions will still have the ability to use Game On community law variations to adapt secondary laws in areas such as pick and go and double tackles.

The new community law will come into effect from 1 July for seasons beginning after that point.

Initial trials of a lower legal tackle height in elite rugby will take place at the World Rugby Junior World Championship which takes place in Georgia from 27 June.

World Rugby Council also voted to move a number of other successful trials into full law. These included:

The scrum brake foot which reduces axial loading (pressure on heads and necks) in the scrum

Restrictions on water carriers entering the field of play

Confirming the role of the Television Match Official as a formal part of the officiating team

Allowing elite competitions the option of using 20 minute red cards if they choose to.

The amendments will come into force from 1 July and the exact wording can be found on the World Rugby Laws section or world.rugby/laws.

Welcoming Council’s decision World Rugby Chairman Brett Robinson also thanked those unions whose work in trialing measures has led to their full adoption. Robinson said “Player welfare is at the heart of everything that rugby does. I welcome the adoption of a lower tackle height into community law. I would like to thank all the unions and academics and most importantly players and referees who took part in the trials that have helped us to reach this point.

“The trials from round the world show that this is the right thing to do to make our game safer and more enjoyable for community players who are the lifeblood of our sport. Rugby has always led the way when it comes to making changes considered changes to improve the welfare of our players and alongside provisions such as smart mouthguards in the elite game, we’ve shown time and again that we’ll make the big calls and that we’re getting them right, backed by the evidence.”