Law discussion - exact time
This sort of thing could happen only in this age of technical exactness.
It could not happen in days when the referee (only) had a watch with hands and managed with much concentration to get rough estimates.
I once asked a great referee of the bygone age how he organised injury time. His reply was: "I add two minutes to each half but if something tells me to end the half, I do so, because I got more trouble in those added-on two minutes than in the rest of matches I refereed."
What happened at the end of the match between Gloucester and Harlequins at Twickenham on Saturday could not have happened in olden times.
With two and a half minutes to play Nick Evans of the Harlequins kicks a conversion that brings them level with Gloucester at 39-all.
Gloucester kick off and Harlequins get on the attack. With less than a minute to go they are well within the Gloucester 22 and in one-pass phases move their position across towards the posts to give flyhalf Nick Evans a more straightforward drop possibility.
With 11 seconds left Danny Care passes back to Evans who is outside of the 22.
Three Gloucester players charge at Evans.
With seven seconds left Evans drops for goal.
With five seconds left the ball flies wide of the right upright.
With four seconds left the ball crosses the dead-ball line.
The referee orders a drop-out.
The clock has gone past 80 minutes.
James Hook of Gloucester is about to take the drop-out.
The referee gives Hook a caution, warning him that if he were to kick the ball directly into touch, the referee would give Harlequins options which included a scrum on the 22.
This is not explicitly stated in the Laws of the Game but the rationale is contained in a clarification/ruling made by the IRB/World Rugby in 2010 in response to a query by the Welsh Rugby Union.
Clarification 2 2010
Ruling in Law by the Designated Members of the Rugby Committee
The WRU request a Ruling related to time at the end of a match:
The request for a Ruling arises from the ending of two recent international matches and is in relation to the way a restart takes place following the referee’s communication that it is to be the “last play” of the match.
If the ball is kicked directly out on the full from the restart it should be left to the referee’s discretion to decide whether:
(a) If Law 10.2 (a) Intentionally Offending has occurred
(b) If Law 13.8 Kick offs/ Restarts has been fully complied with.
Observation
The Laws relating to Kick Offs/Restarts for 15-a-side matches would benefit immensely from the variation to Law 13.7, 13.8 and 13.9 currently operating for seven-a-side rugby, which are quite specific, in that, it is a free kick to the non-offending team should a team infringe the above.
Ruling in Law by the Designated Members of the Rugby Committee
The Designated Members have ruled that if there has been a score towards the end of the game and there is time for the kick-off to take place but time will expire immediately after the kick and the kicker:
• Does not kick the ball ten metres
• Kicks the ball directly into touch
• Kicks the ball dead on or over the opponents touch-in-goal or dead ball line
The referee will offer the non-offending team the options provided by Law 13.7, 13.8 and 13.9 respectively and the match continues until the ball next becomes dead.
Then there is Clarification 1 of 2015 which also deals with an action near the end of time.
Clarification 1 2015
Ruling in Law by the Designated Members of the Rugby Committee
23 February 2015
Request
Following controversy after the Scotland vs Wales game regarding the decision by the referee to blow the whistle for the end of the match, we would like a clarification in Law.
Scenario 1
A try is scored in the last minute of a game. The conversion is kicked and after the kick, there is between 5-10 seconds left on the clock, i.e. 79:50.
Question
Does the referee allow for a restart to be made or does he blow the whistle for the end of the match, when the clock shows 80 (i.e. 40 minutes)? There are a set of Law variations for Sevens which are different. In this specific case, why not consider the application of the Sevens variation which is clearer and could avoid such controversy?
Law for fifteen-a-side
5.7 (e) If time expires and the ball is not dead, or an awarded scrum or line-out has not been completed, the referee allows play to continue until the next time that the ball becomes dead. The ball becomes dead when the referee would have awarded a scrum, line-out, an option to the non-infringing team, drop out or after a conversion or successful penalty kick at goal. If a scrum has to be reset, the scrum has not been completed. If time expires and a mark, free kick or penalty kick is then awarded, the referee allows play to continue.
(fl) If time expires after a try has been scored the referee allows time for the conversion kick to be taken.
Variation for Seven-a-side – in practice
The team scoring a try within the last 40 seconds may however take the kick or not and, providing they decline the kick or take the kick with time remaining, a restart will occur and the match will end at the next stoppage within Law. Time is taken from the strike on the ball.
Scenario 2
Can the same logic be applied to a penalty award at the end of the game, e.g. what happens if a penalty is awarded at 79:50 and the team wants to kick to touch and take a line-out?
Clarification in Law by the Designated Members of the Rugby Committee
Scenario 1
A team scoring a try near the end of the match may take the conversion kick or not. Providing they decline to take the kick or take the kick within the time remaining, a restart will occur and the match will end at the next stoppage within Law. Time is taken from the strike on the ball.
In the specific query where the conversion was kicked at 79:50 then the referee should allow for a restart.
Scenario 2
The same logic applies, i.e. as long as the penalty kick is taken before 80:00 then the line-out will take place and the match will end at the next stoppage within Law. Time is taken from the strike on the ball.
There is a logic in all of this which applies to the Harlequins-Gloucester match..
After the ball has been kicked dead, it needs to be brought back into play by a kick-off
If it is kicked directly into touch, it is not brought back into play.
Kicking it directly into touch is an infringement, requiring sanctions to be imposed.
If this is the rationale for dealing with the kick-off, the same thinking should apply to the drop-out. And indeed the referee did apply it in the case of the match between the Harlequins and Gloucester.
It is similar for a scrum, a line-out, a penalty or a free kick. If this is awarded before time is up, the scrum, line-out, penalty or free kick takes place.
In this match Hook dropped out a long way downfield and Harlequins ran back at Gloucester. The play that ensued was frantic, ending suddenly when Care knocked on in trying to pick the ball up behind a tackle/ruck. When Hook kicked it was on 80 minutes 49 seconds. When Care knocked on it was on 81 minutes 43 seconds.
There is sense in all of this but there also is a lot of high-tech activity – electric clocks and an expert timekeeper. It is the stuff of top level, money rugby. For most of the rugby played the 'two minutes to each half' guesswork may still have to suffice.
