The RFL agrees to lower tackle height for all levels from 2025
- Published
The Rugby Football League has introduced sweeping changes to the laws in an attempt to limit the risk of concussions
Tackling above the armpit will be outlawed at all levels of rugby league in England from 2025 to reduce the risk of head contact.
The current laws allow tackles from shoulder height.
The change will come into effect at grassroots, academy and reserve levels from the 2024 season and then elite rugby the year after.
It was one of 44 recommendations accepted by the Rugby Football League (RFL) "to make the game safer at all levels".
The recommendations, accepted by the RFL's independent board, were made by the sport's Brain Health and Clinical Advisory Group Sub-Committees. They include:
Instrumented mouthguards, which actively monitor impact to a player's head during contact, will be mandated in the men's and women's Super League
An off-season of four weeks, followed by an additional minimum two-week pre-season period without contact training, will be made mandatory to "to reduce cumulative player load"
Different match limits will be introduced for backs and forwards over a 12-month period
Independent concussion spotters will be introduced on a trial basis in 2024 after they were used in last year's Rugby League World Cup
Changes to sanctions for on-field and off-field head contact
Three of the law changes are aimed at young age grades of the sport with contact rugby league to be replaced by touch/tag in a gradual approach, starting with under-6s and under-7s in 2024 and including under-8s from 2025 and under-9s from 2026.
At community level it is also recommended that no rugby league should be played in the month of December unless played as part of an existing winter offering. For all other competitions, no contact rugby league activity will take place after the third weekend in November until the following January when a graduated return to contact will be in place.
The tackle height law change follows trials in the Under-18 Academy competition this summer "which were found to have significantly reduced the amount of head contact, and the number of head accelerations".
The Rugby Football Union lowered its legal tackle height in community rugby from below the shoulders to the "base of the sternum" from the 2023-24 season.
RFL chief executive Tony Sutton said: "In stressing the significance of these recommendations which have now been ratified by the RFL's independent board of directors, we acknowledge the challenges they will pose for those at all levels of the sport.
"We believe they are essential, as rugby league must respond to developments in medical and scientific knowledge to prioritise the safety of those that play; and also that they offer exciting opportunities to increase the appeal and accessibility of rugby league, especially at junior and community levels."
The RFL has been working with Leeds Beckett University on the TaCKLE (Tackle and Contact Kinematics, Loads and Exposure) project since 2021 as it attempts to make the sport safer.
What happened to the children taken by Russian forces?: Panorama uncovers a trail of evidence leading to the Russian Parliament
A Christmas party playlist from Radio 1: Featuring festive hits from artists such as Harry Styles, Miley Cyrus and Ed Sheeran
