Tackle Height Law Trial

Rugby Alberta is proud to announce adoption of a lower tackle height law trial for all rugby played within the province of Alberta under the jurisdiction of Rugby Alberta for competitions beginning after March 1st, 2026. Rugby Alberta has agreed to trial this law change within Canada following World Rugby’s recommendation that the lower tackle height be adopted worldwide by the community game on July 1, 2026.

The law trial adopted by Rugby Alberta with the support of Rugby Canada and World Rugby will lower the maximum-allowed tackle height to the base of the sternum. This “tackle line” has been proven – via law trials in other countries (including England, New Zealand, and others) – to lead to improvements in player safety and injury prevention versus a “tackle line” at shoulder height. Safety is the top priority on the rugby field and adoption of this law trial will have positive effects, particularly around head injuries & concussion.

Rugby Alberta will be hosting two online information & feedback sessions relating to this law trial on February 26, 2026 and March 3, 2026 to help community members understand the implications of the law trial and how it affects their realities as coaches, players, and match officials.

Questions about the implementation of this law trial can be directed to Andrew Shaw, Manager, Rugby Operations for Rugby Alberta at mngrugbyops@rugbyalberta.com.

Official Law Trial

This law trial will amend sections 9.13 and 9.11 of the Laws of the Game to cover the actions of the tackler and ball carrier, respectively, in tackles in open play. The official wording of the law changes can be found below or in the attached explainer document.

9.13 – A player must not tackle an opponent early, late or dangerously. Dangerous tackling includes, but is not limited to, tackling or attempting to tackle an opponent above the line of the shoulders even if the tackle starts below the line of the shoulders, or tackling or attempting to tackle an opponent above the base of the sternum while either player is running in open field play. Sanction: PK

9.11 – Players must not do anything that is reckless or dangerous to others including leading with the elbow or forearm, or jumping into, or over, a tackler, or leading with the head into an opponent while running in open field play. Sanction: PK

Please note the use of the phrase “open field play” which affects application of the law trial and is explained further in the attached document.

Info Sessions

Where can I learn more about the new law trial?

We encourage members of the Alberta rugby community to attend one of our two online information sessions coming up on the following dates:

February 26, 2026 – 7:00pm to 8:30pm – Online – REGISTER HERE

March 3, 2026 – 8:00pm to 9:30pm – Online – REGISTER HERE

These sessions will specifically discuss how to coach the tackle under the new law trial as well as how match officials will be asked to apply the law trial. We are planning to have coaches and match officials from other unions to speak to their experience of implementing this law trial within their union. These sessions will also have time dedicated to hear from the community about how Rugby Alberta can continue to support adoption of this law trial as we move into the rugby season.

Have a question that you want answered during a session? Pre-submit your question HERE. There will be opportunities to ask questions and discuss live during the sessions but pre-submitting questions will help ensure that there is time to get you the answer that you desire.

What additional training is available to coaches to help them coach the tackle safely?

In addition to the information sessions noted above, we encourage coaches to attend upcoming tackle workshops.

In Calgary & area, there are such workshops scheduled for February 25, 2026 (6-9pm, Rugdle College) and February 28, 2026 (9am-Noon, UofC Kinesiology B, Room 70). Info and registration for these courses can be found HERE.

In Edmonton & area, please contact Alanna Fittes, Edmonton Rugby Union Programs Manager, at programsmanager@edmontonrugby.com to set up a tackle workshop for your club or group.

For coaches who have recently attended such a workshop (e.g. in 2025 or already in 2026), all of the techniques and coaching concepts that you learned in those workshops are still applicable under the new law trial (i.e. you’ve been learning the right things all along).

Affected Competitions

What competitions will be affected by the new law trial?

All competitions sanctioned by Rugby Alberta that begin after March 1, 2026 will be played under this law trial. This includes all Senior, Junior, and Minor contact community competitions.

School Sport Alberta (SSA), at its discretion, has indicated that it intends to adopt this law trial for the 2026 rugby season as well, creating consistency across all competitions for the athletes, coaches, and match officials in all age grades.

The entirety of the 2026 Senior Women’s Pathway Series will not be covered by the new law trial due to this competition beginning on February 13, 2026. Matches played in this competition after March 1, 2026 will not have the law trial applied.

Any competitions hosted outside of Alberta, such as the 2026 Vancouver Sevens Invitational, will be subject to the jurisdiction of the home province or Rugby Canada as applicable.

Additional Coach Training

What additional training is available to coaches to help them coach the tackle safely?

In addition to the information sessions noted previously, we encourage coaches to attend upcoming tackle workshops.

In Edmonton & area, please contact Alanna Fittes, Edmonton Rugby Union Programs Manager, at programsmanager@edmontonrugby.com to set up a tackle workshop for your club or group.

Match Official Support

Global Trial Info

Over the last 18 months World Rugby in collaboration with eleven (11) rugby unions from around the world have been conducting a tackle height law trial to examine tackle height in the community game. This has resulted in a data set of almost 150,000 tackles which have been analyzed. To do this each tackle was assessed for the level of danger based on the point of contact (e.g. head-to-head contact = extremely high danger, midriff contact = least danger, etc.) and the percentage of tackles at each danger level was compared to similar data from prior to the law trial.

The trials showed “high” contacts in community rugby were reduced by 8% in men’s rugby and 10% in women’s rugby, thereby significantly reducing the danger level of tackles. When scaled up to the number of community games played around the world, that represents tens of thousands of safer tackles experienced by players. Some unions also found a significant drop in concussions, whilst noting the data only covers a single season at this point.

Scotland report ↓ head-to-head and head-to-shoulder contacts in both the men’s and women’s game ↓ and ↓ in tackle made in the red zone (above the base of the sternum).

IRFU in external report has reported ↓ concussion rates in men’s and women’s club, ↓ overall injury rates for men’s an 18-33% drop, women’s and senior school age an 18-30% drop and a ↓ rate of head impacts by 7%.

England and South Africa reported similar results to Scotland with decreased rates of head impacts and improved tackler contact behaviour.

The results of the community tackle height trials are strikingly similar to the findings of an analysis of 20,000 elite level tackles which showed a similar reduction in upright tackles had been achieved through increased sanctions, technology such as smart mouthguards and player education. The 11 participating unions demonstrated overall happiness with the effects on the community game by recommending that the lower tackle height be written into law for the community game.

A summary of the significant findings across the global trials can be found HERE and the research papers that support these findings can be found HERE.

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