Referees to be stricter with high tackles 08 February, 2011 In a recent memorandum to all Unions the International Rugby Board (IRB) has urged all referees and citing commissioners to police the issue of high tackles more severely. 

The call comes after an IRB medical conference held in London, England last November (attended by Fiji Rugby’s national physiotherapist, William Koong) where participants recognized that tackles above the line of the shoulders have the potential to cause serious injury and noted that a trend had emerged whereby players responsible for such tackles were not being suitably sanctioned. 

The specific provisions of Law 10.4(e) in relation to High Tackles are as follows: 

A player must not tackle (or try to tackle) an opponent above the line of the shoulders even if the tackle starts below the line of the shoulders. A tackle around the opponent’s neck or head is dangerous play. 

A stiff-arm tackle is dangerous play. A player makes a stiff-arm tackle when using a stiff-arm to strike an opponent. 

Depending on the circumstances of the high tackle the range of sanctions extends from a penalty kick to the player receiving a red card. An illegal high tackle involving a stiff arm or swinging arm to the head of the opponent, with no regard to the player’s safety, bears all the hallmarks of an action which should result in a red card or a yellow card being seriously considered. 

In the memorandum, referees and citing commissioners are urged not to make their decision based on what they consider was the intention of the offending player. Their decision should be based on an objective assessment (as per Law 10.4(e)) of the overall circumstances of the tackle.