A red card ends the player's match; replacement is a separate question.

The laws and guidance used here

This page applies the World Rugby Laws of the Game 2026, principally Law 9 on foul play and the Sevens variation to Law 9.29. It also uses World Rugby's Head Contact Process, in effect from 9 March 2023 and still listed in the current law-application guidelines, plus the August 2025 elite red-card replacement guideline reflected in the 2026 law text.

The Sevens variation changes a yellow suspension from ten minutes to two. It does not create a separate list of foul-play offences: obstruction, unfair play, repeated infringements, dangerous play and misconduct come from the general Law 9.

It is much broader than a high tackle

World Rugby Law 9 covers conduct contrary to both individual laws and the spirit of the game. Relevant groups include:

• Obstruction: intentionally blocking an opponent's fair opportunity to play.
• Unfair play: intentional infringements, simulation and time-wasting.
• Repeated infringements: repeated offending by a player or a team after referee management.
• Dangerous play: reckless actions, abuse, dangerous tackles, shoulder charges, contact with airborne players, dangerous lifting and unsafe ruck or maul entry.
• Misconduct: retaliation, conduct contrary to good sportsmanship and disrespect for match officials.

A penalty is the stated field sanction for most of these offences. A card is the disciplinary sanction added when the nature, danger, intent, cynicism or repetition requires it.

Penalty, yellow and red answer different questions

The referee first identifies whether foul play occurred and the correct restart. The referee then decides whether the player also requires a warning, two-minute suspension or sending-off.

• Penalty only: foul play occurred, but the incident does not meet the applicable card threshold.
• Yellow card: the player is cautioned and suspended for two minutes of match time under the Sevens variation.
• Straight red: the player is sent off for the incident itself.
• Second-yellow sending-off: a player who later commits another yellow-card offence after an earlier yellow must be sent off.

A hard-looking collision is not automatically red, and absence of intent does not automatically prevent red. The mechanics and danger of the act matter.

What sending-off does immediately

The referee shows the red card, the player leaves the playing area and that player cannot return. Play normally restarts with the penalty attached to the foul-play offence unless another provision, such as advantage or a penalty try, controls the sequence.

The player's personal removal is permanent for that match. The team's numerical position is considered separately under Law 9.30 and any elite replacement protocol. A substitute never replaces the sent-off player as if it were an ordinary tactical interchange.

Permanent red or 20-minute red?

The 2026 Law 9.30 wording makes this distinction for elite rugby only:

• For an intentional and highly dangerous action, the sent-off player cannot be replaced.
• For another red-card action, a competition using the elite framework may allow a replacement after 20 minutes of playing time.

World Rugby's implementation guideline says unions decide what level counts as elite and competitions choose an implementation option before the league or event begins. The referee cannot invent a 20-minute replacement during a match that is not operating the framework.

The red-carded player never comes back

Even where a 20-minute replacement is permitted, the original player remains sent off. A different eligible player may restore the team's numbers after the full playing-time period and only through the competition's official process.

A score, half-time interval or ordinary stoppage does not shorten the 20 playing minutes. Nor does the framework convert an intentional, highly dangerous permanent red into a replaceable one. Broadcast graphics should follow the official classification and timekeeper rather than infer eligibility from card colour alone.

Accumulation also sends the player off

The Sevens variation to Law 9.29 is explicit: a player shown yellow serves a two-minute suspension; if the same player later commits another yellow-card offence, the player must be sent off. The second incident need not independently meet the straight-red threshold.

The reason for the sending-off should therefore be reported accurately. “Red for two yellows” describes accumulation, not proof that the second offence was an intentional and highly dangerous act. Any question about replacement eligibility must be answered from the competition's adopted protocol rather than guessed from the broadcast sequence.

Contact with the head begins an assessment

World Rugby Law 9.13 prohibits early, late or dangerous tackles and expressly includes tackles leading to head contact. The Head Contact Process then asks four questions:

1. Has head contact occurred? The process includes the head, neck and throat.
2. Was there foul play? Consider whether the action was intentional, reckless or avoidable.
3. What was the degree of danger? Directness, force, speed, control and body mechanics are relevant.
4. Is there clear mitigation? Consider sudden movement, line of sight, an effort to change height and the time available to adjust.

The process focuses on the actions, not solely on injury. A player receiving an HIA does not prove illegal contact, while a player remaining on the field does not prove the contact was safe.

What moves an incident toward red

World Rugby's process associates high danger with factors such as direct contact, high force or speed, a lack of control, an upright dynamic action, or a leading head, shoulder, elbow or forearm. A swinging arm and no realistic adjustment can also be important.

Low danger can include indirect contact, low force or speed and passive body mechanics. These factors are not a points table; officials assess the complete action and use the current process appointed for the match.

A reason to reduce is not an excuse

Mitigation can reduce the card outcome when a sudden and significant drop or change of direction, a late change caused by another player, restricted line of sight, or a clear attempt to lower changes the tackler's realistic options.

It must be clear and relevant to the contact. A small predictable dip, poor initial tackle height or a vague claim that the game is fast is not automatically mitigating. World Rugby's Head Contact Process says mitigation does not apply to intentional or always-illegal acts of foul play.

Red cards are not confined to head contact

Law 9 also prohibits tackling or playing an opponent whose feet are off the ground, lifting and dropping or driving an opponent onto the head or upper body, retaliation, physical or verbal abuse, stamping, tripping, kicking and dangerous actions at the breakdown.

Serious obstruction or intentional cynical conduct can also lead to a card, while repeated team infringements can escalate to yellow after a general caution. The referee identifies the actual Law 9 category; “foul play” is not shorthand for high tackle alone.

Score and card are separate decisions

If foul play prevents a try that probably would otherwise have been scored, the referee can award a penalty try under Law 8. The scoring remedy does not replace the foul-play assessment. Officials still determine whether the offender receives yellow or red.

Conversely, a red card does not automatically prove a try should be awarded. The probable-try test concerns what would have happened without the illegal act; the red-card test concerns the seriousness of the player's conduct.

TMO and off-field review are competition-specific

Some elite events appoint a television match official or foul-play review officer and may use an off-field process. Other sevens competitions rely on the referee and assistant referees. The available technology changes how evidence is reviewed, not the underlying prohibition on foul play.

A tournament must publish or adopt its review procedure. Viewers should not assume that a bunker, orange card, upgraded yellow or another competition's terminology applies to every World Rugby sevens event.

Judicial discipline is a later process

A red card settles participation in the current match; it does not by itself state the final suspension for future matches. The referee reports the incident, and the relevant judicial or disciplinary process can consider the offence, evidence, entry point, aggravating and mitigating factors, and applicable regulations.

That later decision should not be confused with match-time mitigation. One determines the referee's immediate card; the other determines any post-match sanction.

High-speed direct head contact

Situation: a defender stays upright, leads with a tucked shoulder, makes direct forceful head contact and had time to adjust.

Ruling path: foul play, high danger and no clear mitigation. Under World Rugby's Head Contact Process this points to red. The competition then classifies replacement eligibility under Law 9.30; intentional and highly dangerous action cannot be replaced.

A sudden late drop changes the contact

Situation: a tackler makes a genuine wrapping action, but another contact causes the ball-carrier to drop sharply immediately before low-force head contact.

Ruling path: establish foul play and danger first, then consider the sudden significant change and time to adjust. Clear mitigation may reduce a card outcome; it does not guarantee play-on.

The opponent is taken out in the air

Situation: a chaser pulls an airborne receiver, who rotates and lands dangerously.

Ruling path: Law 9.17 prohibits tackling, charging, pulling, pushing or grasping an opponent whose feet are off the ground. Landing, control, danger and intent inform whether the penalty is accompanied by yellow or red.

A player receives a later second yellow

Situation: the player has served one two-minute suspension, returns, and later commits a separate yellow-card offence.

World Rugby 2026 ruling: the referee sends the player off under the Sevens variation to Law 9.29. The player takes no further part; competition rules determine any separate team-replacement question.

A non-permanent elite red occurs early

Situation: an elite competition has expressly adopted the 20-minute framework and classifies a red-card action as replaceable. The card occurs two minutes into a standard pool match.

Ruling: the sent-off player cannot return. A different player becomes eligible only after 20 minutes of playing time, so the scheduled 14-minute match will ordinarily finish before the team can use that replacement.

How to analyse a sevens foul-play incident

1. Name the competition and 2026 protocol. Confirm review and elite-replacement rules.
2. Identify the exact Law 9 offence. Do not begin with card colour.
3. For head contact, use the four-stage process. Contact, foul play, danger, mitigation.
4. Check prior cards and team warnings. Accumulation changes the outcome.
5. Choose the field restart. Apply advantage or penalty-try law where relevant.
6. Choose the disciplinary sanction. Penalty only, yellow, second-yellow send-off or straight red.
7. Separate player removal from team replacement. Apply the elite 20-minute distinction only if it governs the match.

Six claims to avoid

• “Every head contact is red.” Officials first decide whether there was foul play, then danger and mitigation.
• “No intent means no red.” A highly dangerous reckless action can still justify sending-off.
• “Red always means seven against six forever.” The player is always gone, but an adopted elite framework may permit a different player after 20 playing minutes for eligible actions.
• “Every elite red is replaceable.” Intentional and highly dangerous actions are excluded.
• “A second yellow proves a straight-red offence.” It is a sending-off for accumulation.
• “A red automatically awards a penalty try.” The probable-try question is separate.

Governing-body sources and effective versions

• World Rugby — Laws of the Game 2026
• World Rugby — Law 9: Foul play
• World Rugby — Sevens variation to Law 9.29
• World Rugby — Head Contact Process, in effect 9 March 2023
• World Rugby — elite 20-minute red-card replacement guideline, August 2025

Checked against World Rugby's July 2026 law book and current Passport guidance. Event-specific review, replacement and disciplinary regulations must be identified separately.