Initially, referee Matthew Carley sent Ryan to the sin bin after deeming that a clearance in which Ryan made direct contact with the head of Springboks hooker Malcolm Marx had reached the yellow card threshold.
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At the bunker review, the penalty was upgraded from yellow to red by foul play review officer Dan Jones, who considered that there had been a sufficiently high level of danger and that there was no mitigation for Ryan’s rucking action.
With Quilter’s 20-minute red card during this Nations Series, Ireland head coach Andy Farrell was able to bring in a replacement once that period had elapsed.
But what are the head contact laws that referees follow and how do they decide the punishment? Here you will find everything you need to know:
What are World Rugby’s laws on head contact?
Head-to-head contact in the tackle is governed by Law 9 of the Laws of Rugby, which covers foul play.
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Law 9.11 dictates that “players must not do anything that is reckless or dangerous to others, including heading with the elbow or forearm, or jumping towards or over a tackler” and Law 9.13 goes on to say: “A player must not tackle an opponent early, late or dangerously. Dangerous tackling includes, but is not limited to, tackling or attempting to tackle an opponent above the shoulder line, even if the tackle begins below the shoulder line. shoulders.”
If a player breaks these laws and the act is considered reckless or dangerous, the referee has the right to issue a yellow or red card.
World Rugby also clarifies the intent of the laws, stating in its guidelines that: “Player welfare drives World Rugby’s decision-making for zero tolerance of foul play, especially where contact with the head occurs. The focus should be on the actions of those involved, not the injury; the need for an HIA (a Head Injury Assessment) does not necessarily mean that there has been illegal contact to the head.”
What are the punishments for frontal contact?
Well, this is where things get technical and debates start to arise. In March 2023, World Rugby issued its latest ‘enforcement guidelines on the head contact process’ to guide referees on whether foul play has occurred and how it should be punished.
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The referee must go through a four-step process (detailed below) to determine the extent of foul play and the penalty. The four steps are:
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Has head contact occurred?
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What was the degree of danger?
Step 1 (Has head contact occurred?) is relatively simple, and head contact includes the head and face, as well as the neck and throat area. If any contact is made with the head, we move to Step 2.
Step 2 (was there foul play?) is a little more complex. Referees are asked to consider whether the head contact was intentional, reckless or avoidable (for example, the defender is always upright). If this is the case, the tackler will be penalized and will go to Step 3. However, if it is considered that the contact with the head was not foul play, the game continues.
Step 3 (what was the degree of danger?), judged from highest to lowest, determines the initial punishment.
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A high danger rating is judged by any of: direct rather than indirect contact, a high force impact, lack of control of the tackler, the incident occurred at high speed, the tackler advances with the head/shoulder/elbow/forearm or the tackle is reckless. If the referee considers that there is a high degree of danger, a red card will be shown.
Meanwhile, low danger is judged as indirect contact, low strength, low speed or lack of head/shoulder/forearm/swinging arm and a yellow card or even just a penalty may be awarded to the opponent.
The final step, Step 4 (is there any mitigation?) determines whether the punishment can be reduced by one grade (i.e. from red card to yellow card or from yellow card to just a penalty). Mitigation includes a sudden or significant drop in height or change of direction by the ball carrier, a late change in momentum due to another player being in the contact area, a clear effort by the tackler to reduce his height, or the tackler not having time to adjust.
However, mitigation will never apply to intentional or always illegal acts of foul play.
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What about the foul play/bunker review officer review?
Ahead of the 2023 Men’s Rugby World Cup the Bunker review system was introduced. This allows the referee to issue a yellow card to a player, sending them to the sin-bin while play continues, where a Foul Play Review Officer (FPRO) will then re-examine the incident and determine whether the yellow card should be upgraded to red, allowing play to continue rather than a lengthy interruption to debate this.
The referee crosses his arms to indicate that a bunker check will take place.
Once a player is in the sin bin, the FPRO has up to eight minutes to review the decision and decide if it warrants a move to a red card. Otherwise, the player will return to the field once his 10 minutes in the sin-bin have elapsed.
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What is the 20 minute red card?
Referees will have the option of awarding a 20-minute red card for technical infringements. Any act of foul play that is deemed to be non-deliberate or intentional will now see the player punished with a red card for 20 minutes instead of the permanent ban that would have occurred before.
In these circumstances, the offending player will be removed from the field of play for the remainder of the game, but his team may replace him after 20 minutes, and one of his available replacements will bring the team back to 15 men.
This will prevent permanent red cards from being given for violations such as accidental head-to-head contact, where teams would be reduced to 14 men for the remainder of the game.
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Will there still be permanent red cards?
Yes. Wolrd Rugby has confirmed that referees will retain the ability to award a permanent red card for foul play, deemed deliberate and dangerous. In that case, a traditional red card means that a player cannot be replaced by his team even after 20 minutes have passed and the player will receive the full penalty and subsequent disciplinary process.