Tackle height: Lower level locked in for grassroots game globally

Tackling above the base of the sternum will be outlawed in the grassroots game globally after World Rugby made a lower point of contact a permanent part of its law book.

National unions will have the choice of setting either the base of the sternum or the waist as the upper limit for tackles.

The law comes into force at the start of July.

It will mean little change for community rugby in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland, all of which have been part of a multi-year trial of the new laws.

World Rugby will allow national unions to create a loophole for the new tackle height, so that tackles made on players pick-and-going close to the line – with low body heights and less space between attack and defence – are exempt.

The rollout of the new law in England in 2023 was botched, with an initial announcement that tackles would be limited to waste and below, before the mandate was revised to outlaw tackles higher than the base of the sternum following an outcry from clubs.

Analysis of around 150,000 tackles under the new laws in 11 trial countries showed varying decreases in the number of concussions.

Meanwhile, the lowering of the tackle height at elite level will come a step closer this summer with tackles above the sternum outlawed at the World under-20s Championship in Georgia.

World Rugby vice-chair Jonathan Webb said in December that it, if successful, the game’s governing body would face an “all or nothing” decision about whether to implement it across the professional game.