What do yellow and red cards mean in rugby sevens?
I · Intermediate · Set pieces and discipline · 5 of 5A yellow card sends a player to the sin-bin for two minutes of playing time, and the team plays one short. A second yellow, or a red card, sends the player off for the rest of the match. Cards are shown for foul play: dangerous tackles, obstruction, deliberate or repeated offences and misconduct.
How it works
- Yellow in sevens: the player is "cautioned and suspended for two minutes".
- Two yellows: a player who commits another yellow-card offence "must be sent off".
- Red: the player "will take no further part in the match".
- Not replaced: "A player sent off may not be replaced." The main law has an elite-rugby provision for replacement after 20 minutes of playing time.
- Dangerous tackles: early, late or dangerous, including any that leads to head contact or is above the sanction line.
- Other dangerous play: tackling a player without the ball, tackling a player in the air, lifting and dropping a player on their head or upper body.
- Obstruction: blocking an opponent from the ball-carrier or the ball.
- Unfair play: intentionally infringing, intentionally knocking or throwing the ball out of the playing area and wasting time.
- Repeated offences: by a player or by a team. After a general caution to the team, the next offender is shown a yellow card.
- Misconduct: disputing the referee's decisions, and anything against the spirit of good sportsmanship.
- Penalty try: a player whose foul play prevents a probable try must be shown a yellow or red card.
- The restart: a penalty.
The glossary has the yellow card, the red card, the sin-bin, the foul play entry, the high tackle and the obstruction entry.
Tricky cases
A player is shown a yellow card with 90 seconds left in the first half. Do they return for the second half?
Not at its start. The two minutes are playing time, so the remaining 30 seconds are served after half-time.
A defender deliberately knocks down the last pass with a try certain. What can the referee give?
A penalty try, worth seven points, with a yellow or red card for the defender.
A tackle slides up from the chest and makes contact with the ball-carrier's head. Is that always a card?
It is always foul play, since the tackle led to head contact. Whether it is a penalty only, a yellow or a red depends on the danger and on guidance that was not read.
A team keeps giving away the same penalty. Who is carded?
The referee first gives a general caution to the team. If the offence is repeated, the player who commits it is shown a yellow card.
Why the rule exists
Two minutes sounds short, but it is a seventh of the match and one player in seven: in proportion it is about the ten minutes a yellow costs in fifteens. With that much space, six defenders rarely hold out. The card is therefore often worth a try, which is the deterrent.
Where it differs
| Where | What changes | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Sevens | Yellow card is two minutes | WR Sevens Law 9.29 |
| Fifteens | Yellow card is ten minutes | WR Law 9.29 |
| Elite rugby | The tackle sanction line is the shoulder | WR Law 14.1 |
| Community rugby | The sanction line is lower | WR Law 14.1 |
From the rule book
World Rugby, Laws of the Game: Rugby Union 2026, Law 9 and Law variations: Sevens, Law 9. Checked 14 October 2026. Official document: Laws of the Game, Rugby Union 2026 (PDF).