What happens if I get a yellow or red card?

Question

Accepted Answer

These rules come from Law 9 of the 2026 Laws of the Game. Yellow card: you're cautioned and suspended for 10 minutes of playing time. If you commit a second yellow-card offense in the same match, you're sent off, and play restarts with a penalty. Red card: you're sent off and take no further part in the match. In community rugby, a player who is sent off can't be replaced, so your team plays a player short for the rest of the match. (The option to replace a red-carded player after 20 minutes is for elite rugby only.) If a front-rower is yellow- or red-carded and the team can't keep contesting scrums, the team must nominate another player to leave the field so a replacement front-rower can come on. After a red card, the referee sends the match organizer a written report on the foul play as soon as possible.