The yellow card review system currently being trialled in Super Rugby Pacific could come in for the Rugby World Cup, according to World Rugby’s referees chief Joël Jutge. It could mean the arrival of the ‘orange card’ in Test rugby.

The hope is that the move would lead to the deliberation process over foul play being sped up.

Within such a system, any player who has committed an infringement or act of foul play that could go either way, that player could be shown an orange card and sent to the sin-bin for ten minutes. and then while they are off, a second on-duty Television Match Official (TMO) could review available footage to determine if they should come back after the ten minutes, as with a yellow card, or if it would be upgraded to red and the player removed permanently from play.

Related: Face-Off: Does rugby need an orange card?

“This is an operation being tested in Super Rugby (Pacific),” Jutge told Midi Olympique earlier this week.

“In the event of a 50-50 decision, the referee has the possibility of giving a yellow card so that the game can resume as soon as possible, while the TMO has 10 minutes of temporary expulsion to decide whether this should be turned into a permanent expulsion.

“We would give an orange card, clearly.”

As it stands, Super Rugby is also trialling 20-minute red cards, where a dismissed player can be replaced after 20 minutes so the match can return to 15 versus 15. However, it is believed that at the World Cup, any red carding would see teams permanently reduced.

Would you like to see this system adopted?

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