A total of 25 red cards have been issued during

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 ...

tournaments since the first in 1987. Discipline at the 2003 event could be said to be the best out of all seven tournaments to date, at least in terms of red cards, as none were issued. Nine countries have seen at least one of their players dismissed, with

Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

both having lost three members of their team. The

position Position often refers to: * Position (geometry), the spatial location (rather than orientation) of an entity * Position, a job or occupation Position may also refer to: Games and recreation * Position (poker), location relative to the dealer * ...

with the most red cards is flanker, with five such players leaving the field. Two team captains have been dismissed by the referee. There has only been 1 red card to date for 2 yellow card offenses.

Details

The first player to receive a red card was

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

lock Lock(s) may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainment * ''Lock ...

Huw Richards Huw David Richards (born 9 October 1960) is a former Welsh and Neath RFC rugby union player. He played in the 1987 Rugby World Cup as a lock and became the first player to receive a red card in a Rugby World Cup tournament. Biography Richards ...

in the inaugural Rugby World Cup. Richards punched

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

lock

Gary Whetton Gary William Whetton (born 15 December 1959) is a former New Zealand rugby union player. He played 180 matches for Auckland, and 58 tests (15 as captain) at lock for the All Blacks from 1981 to 1991. He serves on the Auckland Blues board and was ...

and received a one-week suspension for his actions. He therefore missed the final match of the team's World Cup – the third place playoff against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

.New Zealand 49 Wales 6
.

Welsh Rugby Union The Welsh Rugby Union (WRU; cy, Undeb Rygbi Cymru) is the Sports governing body, governing body of rugby union in the country of Wales, recognised by the sport's international governing body, World Rugby. The WRU is responsible for the running ...

. 14 June 1987. Accessed 8 October 2011. In that match Australian flanker David Codey was sent off in the fifth minute, the quickest dismissal in any Rugby World Cup.Summary FRA 87–10 NAM
''Rugby News Service''. 16 September 2007. Accessed 8 October 2011. Warned after only one minute, Codey again trampled on a Welsh player in a

ruck Ruck may refer to: * Ruck (rugby union), a contesting for the ball in Rugby Union from a grounded player * Ruck (Australian rules football), an aerial contest in Australian rules football between rival ruckmen * Ruck (rugby league), the area sur ...

and was told to leave the field. The game continued and Australia lost by a point.Aldworth, Winston
1987: A sending off that made Wallaby history
''

The New Zealand Herald ''The New Zealand Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Auckland, New Zealand, owned by New Zealand Media and Entertainment, and considered a newspaper of record for New Zealand. It has the largest newspaper circulation of all newspapers ...

''. 15 August 2011. Accessed 8 October 2011. The

1991 Rugby World Cup The 1991 Rugby World Cup was the second edition of the Rugby World Cup, and was jointly hosted by England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and France: at the time, the five European countries who participated in the Five Nations Championship. This was ...

saw two locks from opposing teams shown the red card. Highly regarded

Argentine Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or (feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, s ...

Pedro Sporleder Pedro Luis Sporleder (born 2 January 1971 in Buenos Aires) is a former rugby union footballer and currently businessman from Argentina. He played for the Argentina national rugby union team (Argentina) on 77 occasions, scoring 12 tries. He represe ...

, who would go on to compete in the next three tournaments, fought with Samoan

Mat Keenan Mata'afa George Keenan (born Rarotonga, 26 October 1960) is a Cook Islands-born Samoan former rugby union player. He played as a lock. Career Keenan debuted in the 1991 Rugby World Cup The 1991 Rugby World Cup was the second edition of the R ...

and both were sent from the field.Barclay, Tom
Greatest Rugby World Cup XV: second row front jumper profiles – Pedro Sporleder
''

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are popular names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaide, South Australia, publ ...

''. 8 August 2011. Accessed 9 October 2011. Four players were sent off during the

1995 Rugby World Cup The 1995 Rugby World Cup was the third Rugby World Cup. It was hosted and won by South Africa, and was the first Rugby World Cup in which every match was held in one country. The World Cup was the first major sporting event to take place in Sou ...

with three of them being dismissed in one incident. Electrical problems at the

Boet Erasmus Stadium EPRU Stadium, also known by its original name of Boet Erasmus Stadium, was a stadium in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. The letters "EPRU" in the name represent the Eastern Province Rugby Union, the stadium's historic primary tenants, whose team i ...

Port Elizabeth Gqeberha (), formerly Port Elizabeth and colloquially often referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality, Sou ...

caused the

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

–Canada match to be postponed by 45 minutes, adding to the tension of the last, decisive Pool A game. With 10 minutes left the South Africans were leading 20–0 when a challenge by

Pieter Hendriks Pieter Hendriks (born 13 April 1970), is a former South African rugby union player who played for the South Africa national rugby union team between 1992 and 1996. Playing career Hendriks represented the South Eastern Transvaal Schools team at ...

on Canadian Winston Stanley sparked a fight between the two teams. Fullback Scott Stewart charged into Hendriks and was joined by Springbok hooker James Dalton and several others. Referee

David McHugh David McHugh is a former Irish rugby union referee. McHugh refereed matches at the 1995, 1999 and 2003 Rugby World Cups. In 1996 McHugh refereed the inaugural Heineken Cup final. He would also referee the 2001 final, making him the first ref ...

chose to send off Dalton as well as Canadians

Rod Snow Rod Snow is a Canadian former professional rugby union prop. Snow began his senior club rugby with the Newfoundland amateur club team Dogs RFC. He went on to play professionally in South Africa for Eastern Province in 1995, before joining Ne ...

and Gareth Rees, the captain. Investigations after the match led to Hendriks and Stewart being suspended.Rich, Gavin
Memorable Moments
SuperSport.com. Accessed 8 October 2011. One week earlier Tongan flanker Feleti Mahoni was caught stamping on the head of Frenchman

Philippe Benetton Philippe Benetton (born Cahors, 18 May 1968) is a former French rugby union footballer and currently head coach of Tournon d'Agenais. He played as a flanker. Benetton had two teams during his career, Cahors and Agen, where he played until 2003. H ...

during a ruck, resulting in an immediate dismissal and a lengthy ban. Until that point Tonga had been making impressive progress against a French team that had been tipped to win the tournament.Cole, Robert
Tonga rattle French until sending-off
''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

''. 27 May 1995. Accessed 9 October 2011. The

1999 Rugby World Cup The 1999 Rugby World Cup was the fourth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial international rugby union championship. It was principally hosted by Wales, and was won by Australia. This was the first Rugby World Cup to be held in the sport's professi ...

also saw four players dismissed but this time in four matches and from four teams. The first red card went to

Marika Vunibaka Marika "Dawainavesi" Vunibaka (born 3 November 1974) is a Fijian former rugby union player. He represented the Fiji national team on numerous occasions, including at the 1999 Rugby World Cup in Wales and the 2003 Rugby World Cup in Australia. ...

who had scored a try and in doing so became the only player to have been sent off after scoring points. Dismissed in injury time at the end of the second half, the Fijian was adjudged to have head-butted a Canadian player.Fiji advances with hard-fought 38–22 win
''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...

''. 9 October 1999. Accessed 9 October 2011. Canadian flanker Dan Baugh was sent off for stamping on a Namibian player and subsequently received a four-week ban. Ngalu Taufo'ou was sanctioned in the same way after running ten metres to punch England flanker Richard Hill. On the same day

Brendan Venter Brendan Venter (born 29 December 1969), is a South African general practitioner and rugby union coach and former player. Venter played at centre and earned 17 caps for South Africa between 1994 and 1999. He played as a replacement in the 1995 R ...

was sent off for stamping on Uruguayan Martin Panizza.Taufo'ou banned for 'flying' punch
16 October 1999. Accessed 9 October 2011. Unique amongst the seven tournaments, no players were sent off during the 48 games of the

2003 Rugby World Cup The 2003 Rugby World Cup was the fifth Rugby World Cup. Originally planned to be hosted by India, all games were shifted to Australia following a contractual dispute over ground signage rights between the Indian Rugby Union and Rugby World Cup ...

.Rugby World Cup / Most team red cards in a match
''ESPN Scrum''. SFMS Limited. Accessed 24 October 2011. Two players were shown red cards for two teams at the

2007 Rugby World Cup The 2007 Rugby World Cup was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by France from 7 September to 2 ...

, both on the same day. Tongan

Hale T-Pole Tevita Hale Nai Tu'uhoko, often known simply as Hale T-Pole or Hale T Pole, (born 30 April 1979) is a Tongan rugby union footballer who plays as a flanker or number eight for the Ricoh Black Rams in the Top League in Japan. He has also played ...

was dismissed in the final ten minutes of the match against Samoa when he elbowed substitute Leo Lafaiali'i in the face. He had received several warnings from the referee prior to the incident.Harlow, Phil
Samoa v Tonga as it happened

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadca ...

. 16 September 2007. Accessed 9 October 2011. Namibian Jacques Nieuwenhuis received his red card after a dangerous tackle on Frenchman

Sébastien Chabal Sébastien Chabal (born 8 December 1977) is a French former rugby union player. He played number eight and lock for Bourgoin (1998–2004), Sale Sharks (2004–2009), Racing Métro 92 Paris (2009 – February 2012), and for the French national ...

. The resultant enquiry decided that Nieuwenhuis had recklessly but not intentionally tackled Chabal around the head and gave him a one match ban.Nieuwenhuis suspended for one match
. Rugby News Service. 18 September 2007. Accessed 9 October 2011.Inson, Jeremy

Rugby News Service. 20 September 2007. Accessed 9 October 2011. Two players were sent off during the

2011 Rugby World Cup The 2011 Rugby World Cup was the seventh Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. The International Rugby Board (IRB) selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japan and South Af ...

. Samoa's Paul Williams was reprimanded for striking a South African player but escaped a ban when it was deemed that his actions were not heavy, had no adverse effect on the game, and that there were "compelling on-field and/or off-field aggravating features".Gallagher, Brendan
Rugby World Cup 2011: Samoa full-back Paul Williams avoids ban after red card against South Africa
''

''. 1 October 2011. Accessed 8 October 2011. Wales captain

Sam Warburton Sam Kennedy-Warburton, OBE MStJ (born 5 October 1988), commonly known as Sam Warburton, is a Welsh former international rugby union player. Warburton played rugby for Cardiff Rugby and was first capped for Wales in 2009. He usually played as ...

was sent off in the semi-final against France because he did not safely return a player to the floor after a tackle. The decision was controversial with several commentators believing that it should only be a yellow card because Warburton did not drive the player into the ground.

Austin Healey Austin Sean Healey (born 26 October 1973 in Wallasey (now part of Merseyside, formerly Cheshire), is a former English rugby union player who played as a utility back for Leicester Tigers, and represented both England and the British & Irish L ...

was one of several current and former players who criticised the dismissal on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

, calling it a "most ridiculous decision". However, the red card was upheld after the match and Warburton was given a three-week ban. Warburton became only the second player to be dismissed in a semi-final, the latest stage towards the final that any player has received a red card.Standley, James
Rugby World Cup 2011: Live text - Wales v France
BBC News. 15 October 2011. Accessed 15 October 2011.Rugby World Cup 2011: Sam Warburton banned for three weeks
BBC News. 16 October 2011. Accessed 16 October 2011. Coincidentally, the other player, Huw Richards, was also representing Wales.

Red cards

Teams

;Key

References

General * * Specific {{Rugby Union World Cup Rugby World Cup Rugby union records and statistics

red Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondar ...

Details

Red cards

Teams

See also

References