Tackles above the armpit will be banned at every level of English rugby league from 2025.
Bosses at the RFL insist lowering the legal tackle height from the shoulder to the armpit is a vital move for player welfare.
The RFL board accepted 44 recommendations to improve the sport’s safety.
A minimum four-week off-season will be introduced, with two weeks’ non-contact training to be enforced in pre-season.
Forwards and backs will be set different limits for the number of matches they can play in a calendar year, while mouthguards to measure collisions will also be compulsory.
A two or three-match ban will also be enforced for any direct head contact without mitigation, while independent concussion spotters will be trialled in 2024.
“We acknowledge the challenges these changes will pose for all levels of the sport,” said RFL chief executive Tony Sutton.
“We believe they are essential, as rugby league must respond to developments in medical and scientific knowledge to prioritise the safety of those that play; and also that they offer exciting opportunities to increase the appeal and accessibility of rugby league, especially at junior and community levels.”
The RFL’s independent board accepted all the recommendations made by the sport’s brain health and clinical advisory group sub-committees.
Contact rugby will be replaced by touch and tag at junior levels, in a stepped approach starting from under-six and seven in 2024.
No community level league will be allowed in December from 2024.
“Rugby league will remain a tough, gladiatorial and character-building team sport,” said Sutton.
“But we believe the mandating of tag or touch at the introductory levels and the reduction in the legal tackle height will place a new emphasis on skill and attacking play, further increasing the appeal of rugby league both to parents, and to open-age community players."
