Would a 20-minute red card work in rugby union?

Are you sure? If Jordie had landed on his head the refs would have had to decide if Koroibete contributed to his fall. If they decided he had not allowed him enough space to land it’s highly likely he’d have got a card. Interesting though, that Jordie’s card has been ruled out for the reasons I outlined above. The biomechanics of his off balance jump meant that there was no case to answer.

It made that game unforgettable tho, talking about spectators. In that case yellow card was even more appropriate, so they might as well use yellow if it's not enough for red. The mistakes will always happen but softening of red makes no sense, cause it loses its meaning then to make players more responsible

Because it's about finding the right balance. Fans are most important because the game is there for the fans, but it's also about punishing the player and the team on the field, as well as punishing the player more if required for upcoming games. It may even result in the card being cancelled as we saw when Koroibete was red carded against the French - considering that incident happened in the 5th minute, it incorrectly penalised the player and the team on the field for 75 minutes and would have been the perfect example of a 20 minute red card being more appropriate.

” Sanzaar countries are united”.. Halalah!! They can actually agree on something!

You’re making mockery just for the sake of proving your point. Yes mistakes happen, doesn’t mean permanent red card is bad

Why not get rid of all the cards for spectators sake

The purpose of red card is to punish the squad enough for players to think twice next time. Then they decide to weaken the card, stripping it of its purpose.. facepalm

That still leaves it open to be used tactically and that wouldn't be a good thing. I agree it's a difficult balance but we've gone from potentially the whole game to a quarter of it. Somewhere in there middle might be more appropriate. Dunno

I’d prefer to stick to 20 minutes, mainly for the sake of spectators/TV viewers who don’t want to see a lopsided game. The real sanction comes after the game when the severity of the incident is assessed and the player is suspended for the appropriate number of games.

No, he wouldn't have got a red card. It's still dangerous play and Marika is entitled to line him up for a tackle without dodging a studs up boot flying

He caught the ball slightly out of position high on his chest, which pushed him backwards and out of control of his jump. This caused him to throw his leg out to try to rebalance since he was now falling back. It was not reckless, it was merely a reaction to his movement in the air and a slight misjudgement in the catch. His knees were tucked up which is the way they’re taught to protect themselves in the air, but his loss of balance led to him extending the leg. It’s interesting to consider what might have happened if his foot had gone over Koroibete’s shoulder instead of into his face. Barrett could not have got his foot down; he would have flipped on his back and probably landed on his head. Koroibete would have got a red card for contacting the player in the air and bringing him down dangerously.

I don't think 20 is long enough. It's not enough of a penalty for a serious offence and both doesn't provide a sufficient deterrent for foul play and is at risk of being used tactically. I'd trial 40 minutes and see how that goes

Lindsay,I am sure Jordie did not mean to kick him in the face but it still looked like an unusual act to lift his leg out like that rather than just land back on the ground.A bit reckless,I would say.

I did not say the head is sacrosanct, neither is it under the Laws. The laws take into account there can be incidental contact with the head. It's a contact sport. Brodie's contact with Hooper was utterly different to Barrett's. Brodie could not have avoided that contact. Barrett could have avoided kicking Koribete in the head by not being reckless. Barrett's was not trivial. Brodie's was. The Laws are complicated enough without adding another level of card. We once had no cards at all. When the ref pointed to the touch line you were gone. Then Soccer cards were introduced. Yellow cards added a sufficient degree of complexity without there being a third.

its good to see it used but must be monitored to ensure teams dont use it on purpose to take the opersitions best players out of the game. world rugy will be sad the northen unions didnt think of it first

What rubbish. What metric or tool are they using to judge force? They are making a subjective call, just as they could make a subjective call on intent. On Saturday they could have easily seen that Barrett couldn’t even see Koroibete as he had the ball in front of his face. Falling backwards he stretched out his leg for balance. There was clearly no intent to kick him. This should have been a mitigating factor.

No it isn't. Because intent cannot be judged. Height, force, contact and circumstances can.

And a red card for a trivial accidental offence makes a mockery of the game. Refs need another card. At the moment guys are being sent off for accidental contact and it’s totally inconsistent. Brodie Retallick accidentally kicked Hooper in the head but there was no penalty at all. If the head is so sacrosanct, then he should also have been sent off.

But intent is not one of the mitigating factors. It’s currently all about height, force and contact points. There has to be a harsher penalty for deliberate actions versus accidental ones.

I think that was why he said that World Rugby should "introduce some mitigating factors". Getting to the point of Lindsay's comment, I do agree that 20 minutes for something dangerous but unintentional is different from assault. If Jordie Barrett's contact to the face of the Australian player with his studs and the player (Jordie) lands awkwardly then that is a red card which certainly does not deserve the team being down a player for the whole match. Off course if player safety is paramount, then dont let players jump in the air to take catches.