Twenty-minute red cards will be trialed during autumn rugby tests

LONDON (AP) — Rugby referees will have the option to use 20-minute red cards during the autumn internationals next month.

Organizers said Friday that referees will still be able to distribute permanent red cards for foul play, deemed to be deliberate and dangerous.

“However, this November, referees will have the option to award a 20-minute red card for technical offences,” they said in a statement. “This variation on the law trial will run throughout the Autumn Nation Series and differs to the standalone 20-minute Red Card proposal due to be discussed by the wider game later this year."

World Rugby said last week the possibility of replacing a red-carded player with a teammate after 20 minutes was moving closer to global adoption following “successful trials.” The sent-off player would not be able to return for the rest of the match.

The proposed new law is part of a package of changes “designed to enhance the viewing and playing experience,” World Rugby said. The council could adopt them next month to start on Jan. 1.

The French and Irish rugby federation have said they are opposed to the permanent implementation of a 20-minute red card by World Rugby, claiming it poses a health risk.

“No trial or subsequent change is considered without utter confidence that player safety and welfare is front and centre though,” said Julie Paterson, the chief of rugby at Six Nations Rugby, commenting on the trial during the autumn tests. “First and foremost, we need to look after the players and their interests, and the trials we have opted to use this November deliver on this commitment.”

According to Six Nations Rugby, the red card variation that will be introduced during the autumn tests ensures that players deemed to commit deliberate and dangerous offences receive the full sanctioning, and subsequent disciplinary process, with the team being reduced to 14 men for the remainder of the game.

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Twenty-minute red cards will be trialed during autumn rugby tests

FILE - Referee Wayne Barnes holds up a red card for New Zealand's Sam Cane during the Rugby World Cup final match between New Zealand and South Africa at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, near Paris Oct. 28, 2023. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena, File)

Twenty-minute red cards will be trialed during autumn rugby tests

A Ukrainian drone strike killed one person and wounded three others in the Russian city of Voronezh, local officials said Sunday.

A young woman died overnight in a hospital intensive care unit after debris from a drone fell on a house during the attack on Saturday, regional Gov. Alexander Gusev said on Telegram.

Three other people were wounded and more than 10 apartment buildings, private houses and a high school were damaged, he said, adding that air defenses shot down 17 drones over Voronezh. The city is home to just over 1 million people and lies some 250 kilometers (155 miles) from the Ukrainian border.

The attack came the day after Russia bombarded Ukraine with hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles overnight into Friday, killing at least four people in the capital Kyiv, according to Ukrainian officials.

For only the second time in the nearly four-year war, Russia used a powerful new hypersonic missile that struck western Ukraine in a clear warning to Kyiv and NATO.

The intense barrage and the launch of the nuclear-capable Oreshnik missile followed reports of major progress in talks between Ukraine and its allies on how to defend the country from further aggression by Moscow if a U.S.-led peace deal is struck.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday in his nightly address that Ukrainian negotiators “continue to communicate with the American side.”

Chief negotiator Rustem Umerov was in contact with U.S. partners Saturday, he said.

Separately, Ukraine’s General Staff said Russia targeted Ukraine with 154 drones overnight into Sunday and 125 were shot down.

Follow the AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

This photo provided by the Ukrainian Security Service on Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, shows a fragment believed to be a part of a Russian Oreshnik intermediate range hypersonic ballistic missile that hit the Lviv region. (Ukrainian Security Service via AP)

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, second left, listens to British Defense Secretary John Healey during their meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Danylo Antoniuk)