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A series of new rule changes have been announced by the Six Nations organisers ahead of the 2025 Championship.

We take a look at each of these changes and examine how they could affect rugby at this season's Six Nations Championship.

Six Nations

20 Minute Red Card

The Six Nations have announced that the controversial 20 minute red card will be used at this season's Six Nations.

What is the 20 minute red card?

A 20 minute red card is where a player who is shown a red card will only be off the field for 20 minutes, rather than being sent off for the entire remainder of the game as before.

Why has the 20 minute red card been implemented?

World Rugby has cited the most recent Men's and Women's World Cup finals as examples of why a 20 minute red card would be beneficial.

Both losing sides received a red card early in the match and it played a big part in the overall score line.

The number of red cards in Rugby Union has increased exponentially since the implementation of new head contact rules in 2017, brought in to attempt to lower the concussion cases within the sport.

When will a 20 minute red card be used?

A 20 minute red card will be used for "technical offences" with a full match red card still being used for "deliberate and dangerous" acts of foul play.

What classes as deliberate and dangerous?

No doubt the words "deliberate and dangerous" will be contentious at this season's tournament with a grey area likely to be established.

From context, you can infer that the typical "head contact" red cards which were previously seen as "rugby incidents" and unpunished prior to the crack-down in 2017, will be deemed as not deliberate and dangerous.

Full red cards, in theory, will only be used for intentional acts of foul play, designed to inflict harm on an opposing player such as a punch or an elbow etc.

Who has opposed the 20 minute red card?

Both the Irish Rugby Football Union and the French Rugby Federation have been vocal in their opposition to the 20 minute red card.

The French Rugby Federation said in an official statement: "Statistics provided by the FFR to World Rugby show that a red card does not systematically mean defeat for the penalised team, the analysis shows that only 60% of the teams receiving a red card lost at the end of the match."

"On Mic" Trial

What is the "On Mic" Trial?

The "On Mic" trial was used in the 2024 Autumn Nations Series and was a huge success.

It involves the referees announcing the decision along with an explanation out loud to the fans in the stadium following a TMO (Television Match Official) check.

How will "On Mic" be used?

"On Mic" will be used at the 2025 Six Nations to improve the fan experiences in the stadium by announcing and explaining key decisions throughout the matches.

Touchfinder Technology

What is touchfinder technology?

Touchfinder technology is a development of smart ball technology which can determine which point a ball has crossed a line on kicks.

When will touchfinder technology be used?

Touchfinder will be used to assist the Assistant Referees in deciding how far a kick has gone before crossing the touchline at this season's Six Nations.

This should make important decisions at key moments in the matches much less controversial.

Speeding up the game

In these new laws, World Rugby is making a clear effort to speed up the game. The below law changes all should play their part in making rugby a more enjoyable spectacle to watch:

Protecting the Scrum-Half

Ruck/Maul

Players who are involved in a ruck/maul can no longer interfere with any opponent within 1 metre of the ruck/maul who is attempting to play the ball.

A penalty will be awarded against anyone who infringes.

Scrum

Defensive scrum-halves now must remain near the tunnel of the scrum rather than follow the attacking nine around with the ball as before.

30 Second Lineouts

Simple change this one, with teams now having a strict 30 seconds to set up Lineouts otherwise a free-kick will be awarded against them.

Say goodbye to the pre-lineout huddles.

Shorter Conversions

Kickers will now have 60 seconds to take a conversion rather than the previous 90.

Not Straight Lineouts

Possibly one of the most radical changes of the lot.

A lineout must go in straight down the middle, in between the two sides, to allow for a fair contest. However, under the new rules, if the contest isn't there, a not-straight lineout will be allowed to play on.

What laws could be coming in the future?

The laws implemented weren't the only ones tipped to be added at the Six Nations. Here are the rules that didn't quite make the cut for this year's Six Nations but could still be added in the future:

One Stop Mauls

Currently, when a team sets up a maul, they are given a grace period of one stop before being asked to use the ball after the second.

Under a new proposed law, that grace period would be removed and the ball would need to be played away as soon as the maul stopped for the first time.

Marks from Kick offs

Calling for "mark" happens when a player standing inside their own 22 meter line catches a ball directly and then shouts "mark". This awards them with a free-kick.

Currently this is only able to be done from open play, but this proposed new law would allow teams to call from it from kick off.

20-Minute Red Card Replacements

The final change in the pipeline is the 20-minute red card replacements.

This would mean that the player returning from the 20-minute red card would need to be replaced, rather than re-entering the field themselves.

This could be a good middle ground in getting some other clubs and nations on board with the idea, but has been pushed back until after this tournament before being trialled.

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