A yellow card temporarily removes one of only seven players. The suspended player cannot be replaced, a try does not end the suspension, half-time does not use it up, and the player cannot return merely because a personal stopwatch reaches zero. The official timekeeper and match officials control when the player is eligible to re-enter.
Quick ruling: World Rugby's 2026 Sevens variation to Law 9.29 suspends a yellow-carded player for two minutes. The team plays with six until two minutes of match time have elapsed and the player returns at the next point at which a replacement could be made, under official control.
Scope
The rule and version used here
This page applies the World Rugby Laws of the Game 2026, particularly the Sevens variation to Law 9, together with World Rugby's sideline-official guidance for timing sin bins. The Sevens variation replaces the longer suspension in the standard form of the game with a two-minute suspension.
The basic sanction is global under World Rugby's sevens laws. A tournament may separately appoint a television match official or use a competition-specific foul-play review process. Those procedures can affect how an incident is reviewed; they do not silently rewrite the two-minute law unless the competition regulations expressly say so.
Immediate effect
What happens when yellow is shown?
The referee temporarily suspends the player and shows the yellow card.
The player leaves the playing area immediately and goes to the designated sin-bin position.
The player's team continues with six. It cannot send on an ordinary replacement for the suspended player during the suspension.
The official responsible for the sin bin records and manages the two minutes.
After the full period, the player is eligible to return only when and where the officials permit.
The suspension belongs to the player, while the numerical disadvantage affects the team. Substituting somebody else into the vacant place would defeat the sanction.
The clock
What “two minutes” actually counts
World Rugby's timing guidance specifies two minutes of match time in sevens. That is the match clock, not simply two minutes of elapsed wall-clock time from the referee raising the card.
Time that is formally stopped for an injury, consultation or another reason does not consume match time.
Half-time is an interval, not match time, so it does not count towards the suspension.
The suspension can therefore begin in the first half and finish in the second.
If the match ends before the two minutes are completed, there may be no opportunity to return in that match.
The timekeeper follows the referee's official time. A television graphic is useful for viewers but it does not authorize a player to step back onto the field.
Return
Expiry makes the player eligible—not self-authorized
World Rugby's sideline guidance says the player may return at the next time a replacement could be made after the full suspension has been served. The return remains controlled by the match officials. A player must not run on during live play simply because two minutes appear to have elapsed.
This distinction resolves many apparent timing disputes:
Clock expiry: the two minutes of match time are complete.
Eligibility: the player may return at the next permitted replacement opportunity.
Authorization: an official manages the actual re-entry so the team does not field eight players or enter at an unsafe moment.
Practical reading: “two minutes” describes the minimum suspension served. It is not a promise that the player will be physically back on the field at the exact second shown on a broadcast clock.
Scoring
A try does not release the player
Rugby sevens does not use the ice-hockey rule under which conceding can end a minor penalty. Whether the six-player team concedes a try, scores one itself, or sees several scoring plays during the suspension, the yellow-carded player must still serve the full two minutes of match time.
A score may create a natural match-management opportunity around the conversion and restart, but it does not erase unserved time. The score and the suspension clock answer different questions.
Across half-time
The interval pauses the calculation
Suppose the official suspension begins with one minute of match time left in the first half. If that minute is played, one minute of the suspension has been served. The half-time interval—no more than two minutes under the 2026 Sevens variation to Law 5—adds nothing. One further minute of second-half match time must run before the player becomes eligible.
The same principle applies when the first half continues beyond 7:00 because the ball is not yet dead or another end-of-half exception applies. The sin-bin clock follows the official match time actually played, not a rough estimate based on the scheduled end of the half.
Why yellow?
Temporary suspension is not only for high tackles
The underlying offence and sanction come from World Rugby's foul-play law and the referee's applicable decision-making framework. Yellow cards can arise from dangerous foul play, cynical or intentional infringement, or repeated offending. The exact facts matter; “penalty near the line” is not by itself an automatic card formula.
Danger: the degree of danger, contact and mitigation can affect a foul-play sanction.
Cynical conduct: an intentional act that illegally prevents an attacking opportunity may justify temporary suspension.
Repetition: repeated infringements by a player or team can escalate after the referee has managed or warned the side.
Penalty try: where foul play illegally prevents a probable try, Law 8's penalty-try provisions and Law 9's card sanction must both be considered.
Competition review protocols can assist with the foul-play decision, but they should always be identified by name and season rather than assumed to apply to every sevens event.
Second yellow
A later yellow becomes a sending-off
The 2026 Sevens variation to Law 9.29 is explicit: if the same player later commits another yellow-card offence, that player must be sent off. The second incident is not simply another independent two-minute suspension.
A sending-off is permanent for the match. It is also distinct from a straight red card for an incident serious enough to require immediate dismissal. In either case, the player does not return after two minutes. Post-match disciplinary procedures are governed by the relevant competition and World Rugby regulations, not decided by the sin-bin timer.
Temporary replacement
A special Law 3 situation
World Rugby's 2026 Sevens variation to Law 3.31 addresses a player who is on the field as a temporary replacement and is then shown a yellow card. The temporarily replaced player is not permitted to return until the suspension has ended. Even then, that player must have been medically cleared and must return within the required time after leaving the field.
This is a narrow team-management rule, but it reinforces the same principle: a side cannot use a temporary-replacement procedure to neutralize a yellow-card suspension.
Worked case 1
A card early in the half
Situation: the official suspension begins at 1:30 and the match clock then runs continuously.
Ruling: two minutes of match time are complete at 3:30. The player becomes eligible at the next permitted replacement opportunity and returns only under official control. The player must not enter in the middle of live play at 3:30.
Worked case 2
The six-player team concedes a try
Situation: a try is scored 35 seconds into the suspension.
Ruling: the yellow remains in force. Any official match time used for the conversion and restart is handled under the normal timing laws, but scoring does not cancel the remaining suspension.
Worked case 3
The card crosses half-time
Situation: the suspension starts with 40 seconds of first-half match time remaining. Those 40 seconds are played, then the teams take the two-minute interval.
Ruling: only 40 seconds have been served. The player needs another 1 minute 20 seconds of second-half match time before becoming eligible to return.
Worked case 4
The same player receives another yellow
Situation: a player completes the suspension, returns legally, and later commits a separate offence for which the referee shows yellow.
Ruling: the player is sent off under the Sevens variation to Law 9.29. There is no second return after another two-minute period.
Worked case 5
A card in golden-point extra time
Situation: a tied knockout match goes to extra time, a player is suspended, and the opponents score before the two minutes expire.
Ruling: under the 2026 Sevens variation to Law 8, the first team to score in extra time wins immediately. The match is over; the uncompleted suspension does not keep the match alive so the player can return.
Decision path
How to check a disputed return
Identify the governing event. Confirm it uses World Rugby sevens laws and note any named competition protocol.
Find the official start. Use the timekeeper's record, not the moment a broadcast graphic happened to appear.
Count match time only. Exclude half-time and periods when the referee has formally stopped time.
Do not subtract for a score. A try does not shorten the two minutes.
Find the next legal return opportunity. Expiry alone does not authorize entry during play.
Check the player's card history. A later second yellow is a sending-off, not another temporary absence.
Common mix-ups
Five claims to avoid
“The two minutes run during half-time.” They do not; World Rugby specifies match time.
“Conceding a try releases the player.” Sevens has no such provision.
“The player returns the instant a stopwatch reaches zero.” Re-entry requires a permitted opportunity and official control.
“Every yellow is dangerous foul play.” Cynical and repeated infringements can also justify temporary suspension.
“A second yellow means another two minutes.” World Rugby's Sevens variation requires the player to be sent off.
Checked against World Rugby's 2026 law book and current Passport law pages. Event-specific disciplinary and review protocols should be checked separately for the named tournament.
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