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A high tackle is an illegal
tackling Tackle may refer to: * In football: ** Tackle (football move), a play in various forms of football ** Tackle (gridiron football position), a position in American football and Canadian football ** Dump tackle, a forceful move in rugby of picking up ...
move in
rugby football Rugby football is the collective name for the team sports of rugby union and rugby league. Canadian football and, to a lesser extent, American football were once considered forms of rugby football, but are seldom now referred to as such. The ...
. A high tackle occurs when a player tackles or attempts to tackle an opponent whereby their arm makes contact with the ball carrier’s chest. The move is dangerous due to the risk of injury to the head and neck of the player being tackled.


Rugby Union

High tackles are illegal in all variations of
rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...
play, including sevens variation and tens variation. According to
World Rugby World Rugby is the world governing body for the sport of rugby union. World Rugby organises the Rugby World Cup every four years, the sport's most recognised and most profitable competition. It also organises a number of other international rug ...
laws, "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 line of the shoulders even if the tackle starts below the line of the shoulders." A player may receive a range of sanctions in response to an illegal high tackle, ranging from a penalty, yellow card, or red card. As per a 2011 World Rugby memorandum on the topic,
"A player must not tackle (or try to tackle) an opponent above the line of the shoulders even if the tackle starts below the line of the shoulders. A tackle around the opponent’s neck or head is dangerous play."
Reducing player injuries sustained from high tackles has long been a goal of World Rugby. In May 2019, World Rugby release
a decision-making framework for high tackles
to assist players and referees in avoiding illegal high tackles and appropriately sanctioning players who commit this infraction. The result of the framework's implementation was a 37% reduction in the number of tackle-related concussion incidents per 1,000 player hours at the 2019 World Cup compared to the previous year, with an overall 28% reduction in concussion incidents. In August of 2019, World Rugby announced that reducing tackle height to waist level was one of several trial laws under consideration for implementation by the
Rugby World Cup The Rugby World Cup is a men's rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams. The tournament is administered by World Rugby, the sport's international governing body. The winners are awarded the Webb E ...
in 2023. Under the new rule, any tackle above the waist would now be considered a high tackle. The rationale for this rule change offered by World Rugby is that "forcing players to tackle lower may reduce the risk of head injuries to both the tackler and tackled player," as well as encouraging more offloads and expansive play. Initial trials of this rule change from the
Fédération Française de Rugby The French Rugby Federation (french: Fédération Française de Rugby (''FFR'')) is the governing body for rugby union in France. It is responsible for the French national team and the Ligue nationale de rugby that administers the country's profe ...
(FFR) has had positive results, showing that reduction of permissible tackling to waist height reduces the number of head impacts and player injuries.


Rugby League

High tackles are illegal in
rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...
play. As per
International Rugby League The International Rugby League (IRL) is the global governing body for the sport of rugby league football. Previously known as the ''Rugby League Imperial Board'', the '' International Rugby League Board'' and latterly the ''Rugby League Internat ...
(IRL) laws, a player is guilty of misconduct if they, "when effecting or attempting to effect a tackle makes contact with the head or neck of an opponent intentionally, recklessly or carelessly." In 2019, the
Australian Rugby League Commission The Australian Rugby League Commission (ARL), formerly the Australian Rugby Football League known as the Australian Rugby League is an Australian rugby league football competition operator. It was founded in 1986 as the Australian Rugby Footbal ...
(ARLC), the governing body of the
National Rugby League The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...
(NRL) cracked down on 'crusher tackles', a particularly dangerous type of high tackle in which a defender forces a player’s head towards their torso in contact. Numerous similar crackdowns on types of dangerous tackles, like high tackles, have occurred in an effort to make the game safer. A related infraction in rugby league is the
shoulder charge This list of rugby league terms is a general glossary of the terminology used in the sport of rugby league football. The sport has accrued a considerable amount of jargon to describe aspects of the game. Many terms originate from the Laws of the ...
, which involves contact to the shoulder or upper arm without an attempt to tackle. A player is guilty of misconduct if they use a shoulder charge, which is defined as when "a defender, without attempting to tackle, grab or hold the ball-carrier (or any opposing player) using the arms or hands, makes direct physical contact with the shoulder or the upper arm (tucked into the side)."


See also

*
Penalty box The penalty box or sin bin (sometimes called the bad box, or simply bin or box) is the area in ice hockey, rugby union, rugby league, roller derby and some other sports where a player sits to serve the time of a given penalty, for an offence not ...
*
Glossary of rugby league terms This list of rugby league terms is a general glossary of the terminology used in the sport of rugby league football. The sport has accrued a considerable amount of jargon to describe aspects of the game. Many terms originate from the Laws of the ...
*
Glossary of rugby union terms Rugby union is a team sport played between two teams of fifteen players. This is a general glossary of the terminology used in the sport of rugby union. Where words in a sentence are also defined elsewhere in this article, they appear in italics. ...
*
Dump tackle The dump tackle, also known as dumping, tipping, or a tip tackle is a popular tackling technique used in rugby football. The tackler wraps their arms around the ball carrier's thighs and lifts them a short distance in the air before forcibly drivin ...
* Spear tackle


References

{{reflist Rugby league terminology Rugby union terminology Banned sports tactics