Six Nations 2025: after Wales-Ireland, the 20-minute red card at the heart of the debates
It was probably not the match fact that we expected to remember in the clash of extremes between a drifting Wales and the double defending champions Ireland , on Saturday 22 February, but it is indeed the one that has monopolized all the attention since this weekend. Used for the first time in this Tournament, the 20-minute red card, distributed to the Irishman Garry Ringrose, crystallized the debates.
In the 35th minute, the Clover centre was guilty of an uncontrolled tackle on his Welsh counterpart Ben Thomas. Sanctioned with a yellow card with a call to the bunker (which allows the video referee to change the yellow to a red after viewing the images), the Leinster player finally saw his penalty changed to a reduced red card after returning from the locker room. He was unable to return to the field, but he was able to be replaced 20 minutes later by Bundee Aki, while the Welsh had taken the lead and were leading 18-13.
A first application of the light red card rule, introduced in this Six Nations Tournament after being used during the November test matches. Applied to technical fouls (not dangerous or deliberate), the light red card allows the sanctioned team to "replace the excluded player, in order to punish the player and not the team" , according to the press release from the Six Nations Tournament organization.
" Before, when we got a red card, the player and especially the team were penalized. That's why it had a significant impact, beyond the individual sanction. Where the player was most unhappy was to have penalized his team during his absence" , believes Laurent Cardona, former international referee, who "does not understand the objective" of the lightened red card: "World Rugby wants to mean that the player has committed a fault, that he will be sanctioned, but that there is no reason to sanction the team more than that. But no, that's what a team is: one of its players commits a fault, he deserves a red card, it must stay like that" , he believes.
Against the Welsh, Ireland were able to save themselves 25 minutes of being down a man. Back at 15 against 15, Simon Easterby's players, interim coach, regained control of the match and ended up winning (27-18) to secure a third victory in a row. And they opened the debate on the impact of Bundee Aki's entry into the game on the physiognomy of the match and the final result.
The Connacht player did not score any points, but his power and precision carried the Irish game. Enough to provoke criticism from many observers, both on the physiognomy of the match and on the effects of the sanction. "The 20-minute red card is therefore absolutely useless. Thank you World Rugby" , tweeted Hugo Bonneval, former French international (2014-2018), at the end of the match.
While world rugby has made a strong commitment in recent years to protecting players, the new rule thus appears "counterproductive" , according to Laurent Cardona: "We are in the business of protecting and ensuring the safety of players, we really want the repression to be significant for the offending players. By lightening the sentence, we will free up a little all these acts of unfair play which are sometimes very dangerous for rugby players. It is a counterproductive rule for this sector. And it distorts this red card which was very strong in rugby, which was a real punishment."
Francetvinfo
