FILE PHOTO: Rugby Union - Rugby World Cup 2023 - Final - New Zealand v South Africa - Stade de France, Saint-Denis, France - October 28, 2023 Referee Wayne Barnes shows New Zealand's Sam Cane a red card REUTERS/Peter Cziborra/File Photo
(Reuters) - French rugby chiefs have condemned the proposed trial of the 20-minute red card in elite levels of the game around the world, saying it could encourage more aggressive play and expose players to greater risk of injury.
Under the law variation, first introduced in southern hemisphere competition, to mitigate against dismissals distorting contests, a player shown a red card can be replaced by a teammate after a gap of 20 minutes.
World Rugby said last week that the initiative was "supported for further elite game trialling after successful initial trials", subject to the approval of the World Rugby Council meeting on Nov. 14.
The French Rugby Federation (FFR), National Rugby League (LNR) and players' union (Provale) issued a joint statement on Monday making it clear that they would firmly oppose the move.
"The red card is an essential tool to deter dangerous behaviour on the field and guarantee the safety of our players," said FFR Vice-President Jean-Marc Lhermet.
"Reducing this sanction to a temporary exclusion of 20 minutes would weaken our ability to protect the physical integrity of athletes and to maintain fair play, fundamental values of rugby.
"We call on World Rugby to reconsider this experiment, ensuring that any decision is based on concrete and convincing data, which is not the case today."
The statement said that the previous trials were unconvincing, pointing out that at one of the tournaments, the under-20 world championships, only three yellow cards were issued.
Furthermore, the statement added, FFR statistics based on 480 French top flight and international matches showed that the team who had a player red-carded lost on only 60% of occasions.
"Reducing the duration of a red card to 20 minutes is a decision that has no solid statistical basis," said Lucien Simon, vice-president of LNR, who run the Top 14 and Pro D2 leagues.
"Indeed, no data justifies that this measure improves the safety of players or that it has a beneficial impact on the game."
Malik Hamadache, the president of Provale, said his concerns were about player welfare.
"This measure would reduce the severity of sanctions for serious misconduct, particularly those that endanger the health of players," said the former international prop.
"Player safety must remain a top priority, and any attempt to lessen the consequences of dangerous actions is unacceptable."
(Reporting by Nick Mulvenney, editing by Peter Rutherford)
