How do yellow cards and the sin bin work?

Under World Rugby Law 9 (2026), a player who commits foul play must be cautioned, shown a yellow card or sent off.

• A yellow card means the player is cautioned and suspended for 10 minutes of playing time in the sin bin.
• For repeated team infringements, you can give the team a general caution; if the offence is repeated, the guilty player gets a yellow card.
• If a player who has already been yellow-carded commits another yellow-card offence, they must be sent off (red card), and play restarts with a penalty.
• If a front-row player is sin-binned and the team can't continue with contested scrums, uncontested scrums are ordered with 8 players a side.

Age grade matches use shorter sin bins under RFU Regulation 15: 5 minutes at Under 13 and Under 14, 6 minutes at Under 15, and 7 minutes at Under 16 to Under 18.

Recording yellow cards: RFU "totting-up" of yellow cards towards a suspension only applies at Men's National 2 and above and Premiership Women's Rugby, not at Constituent Body level.