French rugby proposes lovering tackle height to waist level

PARIS: The French Rugby Federation (FFR) and the French National League (LNR) have proposed to World Rugby to lower the legal height of a tackle to waist level.

During a meeting in Paris between the three governing bodies, French rugby bosses, including FFR president Bernard Laporte, also suggested banning tackles by two players and head-on-head tackles.

The FFR have offered to trial the laws in their amateur competitions.

The conference was organised following the recent death of Stade Francais teenager Nicolas Chauvin.

Chauvin died in hospital after suffering a broken neck which triggered a heart attack during a match in Bordeaux on Sunday.

“Our game has to fundamentally evolve so that rugby becomes a game of movement and avoiding collisions. With that it’s important to change the mentality of players and change the laws, most notably to do with tackling,” Laporte said in a statement.

In September, World Rugby had tried out lowering the tackle height from the shoulder to nipple line at the World Rugby U20 Trophy in Romania.

The organisation also confirmed they will put together a world forum to discuss player health and the evolution of the game’s laws in March 2019 in France.

It will begin the process of eventual law experimentations ahead of the Rugby World Cup in Japan. — AFP