OUT GO THE ‘drop’ tackles as World Rugby continues its bid to clean up tackling.
Confirmation arrived this week that there will be no more tolerance of ‘hip drop’ or ‘knee drop’ tackles in rugby.
This comes on the back of discussions about these types of tackles at the Shape of the Game meetings that World Rugby hosted earlier this year. After those meetings with the game’s national unions, a working group that included South Africa assistant coach Felix Jones had a closer look at the two ‘drop’ tackles.
And following that working group’s more detailed study, the clampdown has been publicly communicated to coaches, players, supporters and match officials.
So let’s start with the ‘knee drop’ tackle.
This involves a defender dropping one of their knees to the ground before they tackle a ball carrier.
It’s a technique that has been on the rise recently. It was illegal before now, given that the defender is taking themselves off their feet before tackling. Any player who is off their feet is not entitled to make a tackle.
Zebre scrum-half Thomas Dominguez received a 20-minute red card for this knee drop tackle on Leinster’s James Culhane last season, and was subsequently banned for three games. Culhane was forced off injured and was sidelined for some time afterwards.
Knee drop tackles dangerous for the ball carrier because the tackler is ‘anchored’ into the ground, which can cause impact injuries or result in the ball carrier being flipped onto the ground.
And they’re are dangerous for the tackler because their head dips rapidly down to where the ball carrier’s knees are thrusting.
To reiterate, this has always been illegal, so World Rugby isn’t changing any law in this case. Basically, they’re just reminding players and coaches that it’s not allowed, and reminding match officials to penalise ‘knee drop’ tackles.
Munster flanker Alex Kendellen was penalised for one of these tackles against Ulster in their URC game yesterday.
Now, there is a qualifier in this. World Rugby admits that defenders sometimes make simultaneous contact with their knee to the ground as they make a tackle.
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In those cases, it won’t be foul play by the tackler, as long as “it is not done dangerously.”
This leaves a bit of a grey area, for sure. It can be hard for officials to be certain when watching live whether the knee drop and the tackle were actually simultaneous. This could mean more video reviews for these incidents.
It also means there is a hefty onus on tacklers to nail their timing. In some situations, like defending close to one’s own tryline, there are many more instances where knees hit the ground as tackles are made.
Defenders will have to keep this in mind. The law application guideline regarding ‘knee drop’ tackles came into effect on Monday, so it’s one to watch out for in the coming weeks.
Moving on to ‘hip drop’ tackles, defenders have a little more time to make sure their technique is accurate.
World Rugby has confirmed a law change in this regard following the working group’s analysis, with the tweak coming into effect from 1 November, just before the return of international rugby.
Hip drop tackles are still relatively rare, but there have been serious injuries caused by them in recent times, so World Rugby has now acted. This means rugby union is following American football and rugby league in banning the hip drop tackle.
From 1 November, World Rugby’s official laws will include a mention that a hip drop tackle is one form of dangerous tackling.
So what is a hip drop tackle?
World Rugby defines it as when a ball carrier is tackled or grasped from the side or behind, and the tackler swings round or through the ball carrier.
This is often accompanied by the tackler dropping their hips/body weight down onto the legs or lower limbs of the ball carrier as they come to ground.
The obvious and serious danger here is that the tackler’s body weight can trap the ball carrier’s limbs, potentially damaging bones, ligaments, tendons, and/or the surrounding tissue.
Hip drop tackles have caused some ugly injuries, and this ban on them welcomed in many quarters.
Australian rugby sensation Treyovon Pritchard suffered a fibula fracture and syndesmosis injury in this tackle during the World Rugby U20 Championship in July.
The obvious challenge for defenders will be when they are chasing backwards or side-on after a ball carrier who has stolen a march on them.
Hip drop tackles can happen almost instinctively in these scenarios, but tacklers will have to override their instincts from 1 November and avoid hip drop tackles at all costs.
Ex-Ireland fullback Rob Kearney, who is the International Rugby Players representative on World Rugby’s executive board, said everyone recognises that “a change of this nature can be challenging to manage in the short term as players, coaches and match officials adjust” but that “this decision has been taken to protect players from potential serious injury, and that’s the right thing to do.”
So coaches and players need to adjust, while match officials need to clamp down on knee drop tackle and hip drop tackles.
As World Rugby confirmed this focus on ‘drop’ tackles, there was also mention that the same working group that examined these tackles had continued its focus on tackle height in rugby.
This has been a huge area of scrutiny in recent years as World Rugby continues its bid to reduce the threat of concussion.
Trials of a lower tackle height in rugby have been ongoing for years now, mainly in the community game, and with encouraging results.
Indeed, a lower tackle height in the community game was formally adopted into full law in July of this year following the success of those trials across 10 national unions, including the IRFU.
The IRFU first implemented a below-sternum tackle height law trial for the 2023/24 community rugby season, including in the All-Ireland League.
The latest findings from the Irish Rugby Injury Surveillance [IRIS] Project – a collaboration between the IRFU and University of Limerick – show that concussion and overall injury rates continue to drop since the implementation of the ‘Tackle Behaviours Trial’ in 2023/24.
Across the community game – everything underneath professional rugby – a lower tackle height has become the norm. Unions can decide between the waist or the base of the sternum as the legal tackle height in their country.
And many in the professional game have accepted that a change to the elite professional game is a fait accompli.
Currently, the shoulder line is the legal high tackle line in professional rugby, but last summer’s World Rugby U20 Championship involved a trial whereby the legal tackle height was dropped to the sternum.
Anecdotally, this appears to have gone well, but we know that World Rugby’s working group has now examined that championship in detail. Their review will go some way towards deciding if and when the sternum height is trialled in senior professional rugby.
Along with Jones, the working group also includes Tappe Henning, the URC’s head of referees, Richie Gray, a highly experienced contact skills coach, Rachel Burford of the Rugby Players Association, as well as eight World Rugby officials, who are non-voting members.
For now, there has been no confirmation of tackle height trials in the elite game, but hip drop and knee drop tackles have been addressed. Rugby will be safer for it.
You can read World Rugby’s law application guideline on knee drop tackles, as well as view further examples, here.
You can read World Rugby’s law change regarding hip drop tackles, as well as view further examples, here.
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The two dangerous tackles World Rugby is clamping down on
OUT GO THE ‘drop’ tackles as World Rugby continues its bid to clean up tackling.
Confirmation arrived this week that there will be no more tolerance of ‘hip drop’ or ‘knee drop’ tackles in rugby.
This comes on the back of discussions about these types of tackles at the Shape of the Game meetings that World Rugby hosted earlier this year. After those meetings with the game’s national unions, a working group that included South Africa assistant coach Felix Jones had a closer look at the two ‘drop’ tackles.
And following that working group’s more detailed study, the clampdown has been publicly communicated to coaches, players, supporters and match officials.
So let’s start with the ‘knee drop’ tackle.
This involves a defender dropping one of their knees to the ground before they tackle a ball carrier.
It’s a technique that has been on the rise recently. It was illegal before now, given that the defender is taking themselves off their feet before tackling. Any player who is off their feet is not entitled to make a tackle.
Zebre scrum-half Thomas Dominguez received a 20-minute red card for this knee drop tackle on Leinster’s James Culhane last season, and was subsequently banned for three games. Culhane was forced off injured and was sidelined for some time afterwards.
Knee drop tackles dangerous for the ball carrier because the tackler is ‘anchored’ into the ground, which can cause impact injuries or result in the ball carrier being flipped onto the ground.
And they’re are dangerous for the tackler because their head dips rapidly down to where the ball carrier’s knees are thrusting.
To reiterate, this has always been illegal, so World Rugby isn’t changing any law in this case. Basically, they’re just reminding players and coaches that it’s not allowed, and reminding match officials to penalise ‘knee drop’ tackles.
Munster flanker Alex Kendellen was penalised for one of these tackles against Ulster in their URC game yesterday.
Now, there is a qualifier in this. World Rugby admits that defenders sometimes make simultaneous contact with their knee to the ground as they make a tackle.
In those cases, it won’t be foul play by the tackler, as long as “it is not done dangerously.”
This leaves a bit of a grey area, for sure. It can be hard for officials to be certain when watching live whether the knee drop and the tackle were actually simultaneous. This could mean more video reviews for these incidents.
It also means there is a hefty onus on tacklers to nail their timing. In some situations, like defending close to one’s own tryline, there are many more instances where knees hit the ground as tackles are made.
Defenders will have to keep this in mind. The law application guideline regarding ‘knee drop’ tackles came into effect on Monday, so it’s one to watch out for in the coming weeks.
Moving on to ‘hip drop’ tackles, defenders have a little more time to make sure their technique is accurate.
World Rugby has confirmed a law change in this regard following the working group’s analysis, with the tweak coming into effect from 1 November, just before the return of international rugby.
Hip drop tackles are still relatively rare, but there have been serious injuries caused by them in recent times, so World Rugby has now acted. This means rugby union is following American football and rugby league in banning the hip drop tackle.
From 1 November, World Rugby’s official laws will include a mention that a hip drop tackle is one form of dangerous tackling.
So what is a hip drop tackle?
World Rugby defines it as when a ball carrier is tackled or grasped from the side or behind, and the tackler swings round or through the ball carrier.
This is often accompanied by the tackler dropping their hips/body weight down onto the legs or lower limbs of the ball carrier as they come to ground.
The obvious and serious danger here is that the tackler’s body weight can trap the ball carrier’s limbs, potentially damaging bones, ligaments, tendons, and/or the surrounding tissue.
Hip drop tackles have caused some ugly injuries, and this ban on them welcomed in many quarters.
Australian rugby sensation Treyovon Pritchard suffered a fibula fracture and syndesmosis injury in this tackle during the World Rugby U20 Championship in July.
The obvious challenge for defenders will be when they are chasing backwards or side-on after a ball carrier who has stolen a march on them.
Hip drop tackles can happen almost instinctively in these scenarios, but tacklers will have to override their instincts from 1 November and avoid hip drop tackles at all costs.
Ex-Ireland fullback Rob Kearney, who is the International Rugby Players representative on World Rugby’s executive board, said everyone recognises that “a change of this nature can be challenging to manage in the short term as players, coaches and match officials adjust” but that “this decision has been taken to protect players from potential serious injury, and that’s the right thing to do.”
So coaches and players need to adjust, while match officials need to clamp down on knee drop tackle and hip drop tackles.
As World Rugby confirmed this focus on ‘drop’ tackles, there was also mention that the same working group that examined these tackles had continued its focus on tackle height in rugby.
This has been a huge area of scrutiny in recent years as World Rugby continues its bid to reduce the threat of concussion.
Trials of a lower tackle height in rugby have been ongoing for years now, mainly in the community game, and with encouraging results.
Indeed, a lower tackle height in the community game was formally adopted into full law in July of this year following the success of those trials across 10 national unions, including the IRFU.
The IRFU first implemented a below-sternum tackle height law trial for the 2023/24 community rugby season, including in the All-Ireland League.
The latest findings from the Irish Rugby Injury Surveillance [IRIS] Project – a collaboration between the IRFU and University of Limerick – show that concussion and overall injury rates continue to drop since the implementation of the ‘Tackle Behaviours Trial’ in 2023/24.
Across the community game – everything underneath professional rugby – a lower tackle height has become the norm. Unions can decide between the waist or the base of the sternum as the legal tackle height in their country.
And many in the professional game have accepted that a change to the elite professional game is a fait accompli.
Currently, the shoulder line is the legal high tackle line in professional rugby, but last summer’s World Rugby U20 Championship involved a trial whereby the legal tackle height was dropped to the sternum.
Anecdotally, this appears to have gone well, but we know that World Rugby’s working group has now examined that championship in detail. Their review will go some way towards deciding if and when the sternum height is trialled in senior professional rugby.
Along with Jones, the working group also includes Tappe Henning, the URC’s head of referees, Richie Gray, a highly experienced contact skills coach, Rachel Burford of the Rugby Players Association, as well as eight World Rugby officials, who are non-voting members.
For now, there has been no confirmation of tackle height trials in the elite game, but hip drop and knee drop tackles have been addressed. Rugby will be safer for it.
You can read World Rugby’s law application guideline on knee drop tackles, as well as view further examples, here.
You can read World Rugby’s law change regarding hip drop tackles, as well as view further examples, here.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Hip Drop Keep it clean Knee Drop Tackle Height tackling world rugby