Following very successful trials in 2017, the Rugby Australia’s National Safety Committee has approved the recommendation for mandatory use of Blue Cards in all club, school and domestic representative rugby beginning in matches from 1 March 2018.
In matches of U13 and older, when a player leaves the field due to signs and symptoms of concussion or suspected concussion, the referee will show the player a Blue Card. This card is a visual cue for team support staff, it must be recorded by team officials, and triggers an off- field medical process to begin.
This off-field process (which applies to all rugby, not just U13s and older) is detailed in Rugby Australia’s Concussion Procedure 2018. Rugby Australia has included the following Law change ‘a tactically replaced player may return to play to replace a player who has been shown a Blue Card.’
For more info about Concussion Management Procedure visit the Rugby AU website:
www.rugbyaustralia.com.au/runningrugby/PolicyRegister/ConcussionProcedureManagement