Captain's challenges and red card subs in place for rugby's Rainbow Cup

Goal-line drop-outs have also been approved by World Rugby

Connacht's Shane Delahunt, 2, receives a red card from referee Frank Murphy during the 2020 Guinness PRO14 Round 15 match between Munster and Connacht at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile

Red card replacements, captain’s challenges and goal-line drop-outs will all be in play during the Guinness PRO14 Rainbow Cup after the initiatives were approved for use by World Rugby.

The three innovations announced on Thursday will be implemented as law trials when the Rainbow Cup kicks off in eight days with a series of local derbies across the five participating countries: Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales.

The law variations are already in use across Super Rugby Aotearoa and Super Rugby AU and their introduction on a trial basis in the Northern Hemisphere was welcomed by World Rugby CEO Alan Gilpin.

“We applaud PRO14 Rugby and the respective clubs for their enthusiasm to trial a number of law variations in the Rainbow Cup,” Gilpin said. 

“The addition of another top competition to the World Rugby law trials programme will provide invaluable data and feedback to determine future advances to game spectacle and player welfare.” 

The red card replacement trial will allow a new player from the nominated substitutes to come onto the field 20 minutes after an offending player has been dismissed, though the player sent off will not be allowed to return. The replacement will also apply to a player awarded two yellow cards while a player already substituted for tactical reasons can be used as a red card replacement.

The goal-line drop-out is for when the ball is held up over the line, knock-ons that occur in goal or when the ball is grounded by a defending player in the in-goal area after a kick through, allowing the defending team to take a drop-out from anywhere on the goal line as long as it is without delay. It must cross the goal-line and travel at least five metres, failure to do so will result in the non-kicking team either requesting the kick to be retaken or receiving a 5m scrum in line with where the kick was taken.

A missed penalty kick at goal or a missed drop-goal attempt will still result in a 22m drop-out for the defending team.

The Captain’s Challenge is the other law trial to be rolled out in the Rainbow Cup with the intention of “enhancing the accuracy of decisions already under the remit of the match officials”. 

Each team is allowed one challenge in the match for try-scoring and foul-play incidents, or to challenge any refereeing decision in the last five minutes of a match.

The challenge will be referred to the TMO who will review the footage with the match referee making the final decision. If a challenge is successful, then the team keeps their challenge but if it is unsuccessful then the team loses the challenge. Challenges must be made up to 20 seconds after the referee has blown his whistle for a stoppage in play and only incidents from the last passage of play can be challenged.

Prior to the 75-minute mark, the Captain’s Challenge can only be used to check for an infringement in the lead-up to a try or to review foul play. The Captain’s Challenge will be applied more broadly from the 75-minute mark in any match at which point the captain, provided they have not already lost their Challenge, can use it to check any whistled decision regardless of whether a try has been scored. Injury time is included in the post 75-minute period.

TMOs will be able to go back to the last stoppage in play, regardless of how many phases have been played Foul play challenges can be made after any stoppage in play if the captain believes foul play has been missed by the match officials Captains must reference ‘specific’ incidents or infringements Footage must be ‘clear and obvious’ for a challenge to be upheld Captains cannot refer a scrum or lineout penalty, where the referee’s decision will be final For the avoidance of doubt, there is no extra challenge available after 75 minutes. Teams receive one challenge per match and will only retain it if they are successful in a previous challenge.

“Our Sports & Regulatory Committee have been very proactive in identifying opportunities to introduce game innovations and we’re looking forward to implementing these trials during the Guinness PRO14 Rainbow Cup,” David Jordan, Tournament Director of PRO14 Rugby, said.

“We know these laws also have their origins from the Player Welfare Symposiums and our belief is that we will see a positive impact on the game overall.”