Red card

The trial law allows a red-carded player to be replaced after 20 minutes.

This trial would be a continuation of the law trial conducted throughout Super Rugby competitions in 2020, 2021 and 2022 as well as The Rugby Championship in 2021.

SANZAAR chief executive Brendan Morris said all four national unions supported the extension.

"As a group we firmly believe the integrity of international matches is very important and that wherever possible matches must be a contest of fifteen versus fifteen."

The Waratahs crushed an ill-disciplined Fijian Drua 38-14 on the Gold Coast at the weekend.

The Drua spent half an hour playing a man short after Nagusa was sent off for a late and high tackle on Tane Edmed.

Halfback Frank Lomani was then sin-binned for ten minutes for an illegal tackle.

The scores were 7-7 at that point, but the Waratahs punished the Drua immediately after both dismissals, piling on 24 points in the duo's absence.

The two players were both red-carded during the final and fourth Bledisloe Cup on Saturday.

Tu’ungafasi received his marching orders in the 22nd minute for a high-tackle on Wallabies wing Tom Wright. While Australia’s Swinton followed in the 34th minute for a similar tackle on All Blacks lock Sam Whitelock.

According to SANZAAR’s statement, both players to have contravened Law 9.13: A player must not tackle an opponent early, late, or dangerously.

Lousi was penalised in the 43rd minute for a shoulder to the head of Ratu Tagive, the Glasgow winger who had just landed on the ground after fielding high ball with the score at the time 10-0 in favour of the Warriors. 

Referee Frank Murphy brandished the red card and Lousi will not be able to play again until November 9, meaning he will miss Scarlets’ PRO14 games against Benetton, Edinburgh and Zebre.  

A PRO14 statement read: “Lousi was shown a red card by referee Frank Murphy (IRFU) under Law 9.13 – a player must not tackle an opponent early, late, or dangerously.

A crackdown on head-high tackles has seen a surge in dismissals but opinions have been split on whether the punishments were often too harsh.

"We've got to work on our consistency but at the end of the day, we're trying to change player behaviour and we're trying to do that in the best way we can, and cards are the best way to change player behaviour," Gosper told reporters in Sydney.

"We're trying to lower the tackle height so we can reduce the incidence of concussion and injury, and we know from evidence that that's what that does.

Ronaldo produced a memorable cameo as Madrid defeated arch-rivals Barca 3-1 in the first leg of the Supercopa on Sunday.

The four-time Ballon d'Or winner came off the bench and scored Madrid's second goal with 10 minutes remaining at Camp Nou before being booked for taking off his shirt in celebration.

Ronaldo was then shown a second yellow card for diving after going to ground under pressure from Samuel Umtiti two minutes later, much to the frustration of Madrid head coach Zidane.

Williams was appealing the four-match ban from the Lions series that rules him out of the first Bledisloe Cup clash against the Wallabies.

The All Blacks centre was handed the suspension for his second Test send-off against the British & Irish Lions earlier this month.

Williams became the first All Black in 50 years to be sent off in a Test when he was red-carded for a shoulder charge on Lions winger Anthony Watson early in the 24-21 loss in Wellington.

He missed the drawn third Test with the Lions, and the Blues' final Super Rugby match against the Sunwolves.

The star All Blacks midfielder became the first New Zealand player in 50 years to receive a red card, sent off by referee Jerome Garces in his side's 24-21 second-Test loss to the Lions in Wellington.

Williams was sent for an early shower in the 25th minute after a crunching shoulder charge that struck Lions winger Anthony Watson flush in the face.

After a period of discussion with his assistant referees and TMO George Ayoub, Garces said he was left with no choice but to brandish red.

The defending champions overcame a red card to the All Blacks first-five to beat the Waratahs 38-28 in their Super Rugby clash in Wellington.

The World Rugby player of the year scored a try, but was also judged to have deliberately knocked the ball down twice in the match.

He was sent off in the 60th minute after receiving his second yellow card for the same offence.

The Hurricanes coach Chris Boyd hopes the red card is all that Barrett will cop.