Smart ball trial at U20 RWC

The technology, developed by Sportable and Gilbert, will track the exact position of the ball in 3D and in real-time up to 20 times a second, with beacons positioned around the pitch.

World Rugby say it will provide officials with "immediate feedback" on "every kick, pass and throw".

The tournament in June will also trial a card review system.

Factors the smart ball will help officials decided include forward passes, crooked throws at the lineout, tries grounded on the line and at which point touch is found from a kick.

The data from the ball will be fed to the television match official, who can feed back to the on-field referee.

Meanwhile, the card review process, also on trial at the tournament, would only be used in-game when a foul play call is not clear from initial replays.

In that situation, instead of showing a straight red, a referee would have the option to show a yellow card that gives a second television match official (TMO) a chance to have a detailed look at the incident with all angles available.

With the player in the sin-bin for 10 minutes the TMO would decide if the foul play warrants being upgraded to a red card, in which case the player would not return to the pitch.

If the TMO believes it is a yellow card only, then the player would return to the match after the usual 10 minutes in the sin-bin.

The change would not take away referees' ability to red card a player. A clear on-field red would remain as such.