Here to entertain: Golden point on agenda for Lions series
Rugby Australia and the British and Irish Lions have agreed to use the 20-minute red card in their upcoming Test series, and, in a bid to prevent a repeat of the anti-climactic drawn Lions-All Blacks series in 2017, RA are also pushing for golden point in the three-Test series.
The rule tweaks were revealed as RA boss Phil Waugh also backed the concept of a World Club Challenge tournament in 2028, but said Super Rugby participants still had to work out how it could potentially fit into an already crowded calendar.
Waugh returned to Sydney on Monday after a week of meetings in Cardiff with World Rugby members, and also with Lions management, ahead of the fast-approaching tour in June, July and August.
After World Rugby announced it would extend the trial of the 20-minute red card to all elite global competitions after August 1, RA and the Lions struck an agreement to use the same foul play processes in the Lions tour.
Super Rugby and the Rugby Championship have used the 20-minute red card for several years, but the Six Nations only used it for the first time this year.
The 20-minute red card - which allows a sent-off player to be replaced after 20 minutes and returns the game to 15-on-15 - has been strongly supported by southern hemisphere nations, to ensure a game is not ruined by an early red card.
In the second Test of Lions' tour of New Zealand in 2017, Sonny Bill Williams was red-carded in the 25th minute for a shoulder charge. The Lions won 24-21.
'[Wallabies coach] Joe [Schmidt] has been quite overt around the fact that one of the roles of this tour is based around entertainment and fan engagement, and he has been a big advocate for some time around the benefits of the 20-minute red card,' Waugh said.
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After finishing third in the minor premiership, the Brumbies host the fourth-placed Brumbies in Canberra on Saturday night and will progress to the semi-finals even if they lose, provided the sixth-placed Blues don't upset the minor premiership-winning Chiefs in Hamilton. Les Kiss is searching for answers after his Queensland Reds were bundled out at the quarter-final stage for a fourth straight Super Rugby Pacific season. The colossal Crusaders enhanced one of world sport's most remarkable records to ruthlessly end the Reds' season with a 32-12 victory in Christchurch. Surpassing tennis's 30-love scoreline, the Crusaders improved their perfect record in home finals to 30-0 to at their fortress on Friday night to leave the Reds wondering where to next. "The Crusaders, they're hard to beat here. I think we've beaten them once in 26 years now, so it's tough," Kiss lamented. 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"We've got enough good people in the organisation, from the players right through to our professional rugby staff, so we can do it. We know that. "I really feel for them all because they put a great shift in this year, all of them, and to finish up like this is despondent." The Reds' exit from the finals leaves the ACT Brumbies as Australia's last team standing. After finishing third in the minor premiership, the Brumbies host the fourth-placed Brumbies in Canberra on Saturday night and will progress to the semi-finals even if they lose, provided the sixth-placed Blues don't upset the minor premiership-winning Chiefs in Hamilton.
