The legal tackle height is set to be lowered at professional level despite the current backlash to the Rugby Football Union’s waist high law change among amateurs, in a move that will send shockwaves through the sport.
The RFU is currently dealing with a rebellion to its decision to ban tackles above the waist for amateurs next season but World Rugby has confirmed change is afoot at all levels. Other home nations are set to follow the RFU’s lead in lowering the tackle height at grassroots level while a trial setting the legal height at the sternum is due to begin in New Zealand next year. In an interview with the Telegraph, World Rugby’s chief executive Alan Gilpin suggested that the tackle height would not be lowered as far as the waist at elite level but is set to come down to below the shoulders.
