World Rugby is considering adopting ‘orange cards’ for the Rugby World Cup, according to the governing body’s head of match officials.
A form of the yellow card review system is currently being trialled in Super RugbyPacific and it could be fast-tracked into the global showpiece hosted by France this autumn.
While players can still be given a red card for instances of foul play, the referee has the option of showing a yellow that can then be upgraded to red on review by the TMO.
The idea of the initiative is to speed up the game by reducing the number of on-field replays of incidents while also dealing with contentious decisions, such as the dismissal of England full-back Freddie Steward against Ireland last month.
Steward was controversially sent off for a dangerous challenge on Hugo Keenan during the March 18 Six Nations encounter in Dublin, but the card was subsequently rescinded by a disciplinary panel.
“This is an operation being tested in Super Rugby,” World Rugby’s Joel Jutge told Midi Olympique.
“In the event of a 50-50 decision, the referee has the possibility of giving a yellow card so that the game can resume as soon as possible, while the TMO has 10 minutes of temporary expulsion to decide whether this should be turned into a permanent expulsion.
“We would give orange cards, clearly.”
What does an orange card mean?
Orange cards would be used by referees when not certain a transgression is severe enough to warrant a red card, like the incident involving England’s Steward during the Six Nations, which happened at high speed.
Rather than wait for several minutes while a Television Match Official considers the offence on replay, the referee could show an orange card, which would send the player in question to the sin bin for 10 minutes and allow play to continue without them.
If the TMO then decides that the incident was worthy of a red card, the orange card would be upgraded to red and the player would not be allowed to return.
If the TMO decides that the incident was only worthy of a yellow card, then the player would return to the game after the 10-minute punishment, as normal under yellow-card conditions.
The aim is to allow time while the match is going on for a decision to be reviewed and the right outcome to be reached.
