World Rugby indecision over tackle height laws in elite rugby

Following the trial of a lower legal tackle height at the 2026 U20 Junior World Championship, World Rugby’s executive board has concluded that more data is needed before a definitive conclusion can be reached on any roll out into the wider elite game.

The findings from the 2026 U20 World Championship trial will be discussed in detail at World Rugby’s Medical Commission Conference taking place on 27-28 October in Frankfurt, Germany.

Speaking following the meeting, World Rugby Chairman Brett Robinson said: “The trials from earlier this year were really interesting, but the reality is we’re not yet able to come to a definitive conclusion on such an important issue in our game. The data from 40 games at this year’s Junior World Championship just isn’t enough to say how such a change would impact the men’s and women’s elite game.

“This is an area that our unions want to see trialed, and World Rugby will continue the trial at our own under 20 competitions, but the only way we’re ever really going to get the level of data we need is for an elite domestic level competition to adopt the trial.

“Player welfare is at the heart of everything we do and that goes for unintended consequences just as much as it does for those changes to the game we consciously make.”  

World Rugby take note of pros and cons

Interestingly, what World Rugby did note is that tackling lower has seen an increase in “knee drop” tackles where players drop to their knees in a dangerous manner.

The World Rugby executive board issued a law clarification, reenforcing existing law, from the beginning of October in order to address this welfare issue with officials acting in clear and obvious circumstances only.

Changes to be made

The “hip drop” tackle, where a tackler uses their bodyweight to pull a player to ground and drops onto the legs of a ball carrier from behind, will be explicitly added to foul play law and will be sanctioned with at least a penalty kick.

Meanwhile, the “knee drop” tackle, where a player drops to one or both knees before making a tackle, will be highlighted to players, coaches and match officials as an action already covered in law and can also be sanctioned with a penalty.