Ellis and Cowan - off and on

There was much talk in Sydney on Saturday night about the comings and goings of Andrew Ellis and Jimmy Cowan, the two New Zealand scrumhalves.

The timetable looks like this:

Start of Match: Ellis was scrumhalf
43 minutes: Ellis goes off and Cowan comes on
55 minutes: Cowan goes off and Ellis comes on
69 minutes: Ellis goes off and Cowan comes on

There was lots of suspicion that there had been some kind of cheating. After all no team wants to be without a specialised scrumhalf.

Let’s start at 43 minutes.

There is a scrum to Australia just on their side of their 10-metre line on New Zealand’s left. The scrum fell down, as it did 12 times in the 11 scrums awarded to Australia. This time the referee awarded a free kick to New Zealand before the ball was even in. Luke Burgess dropped the ball and Ellis picked it up. At the time there was clearly no injury to Ellis.

Ellis tapped and immediately gave to Jerome Kaino who gave to Daniel Carter. Carter broke between Matt Giteau and Berrick Barnes. Barnes caught him as he was swerving past Adam Ashley-Cooper and Carter popped to Ma’a Nonu who was tackled just short of the Wallaby line where a tackle-ruck ensured. The ball came back to Ellis. He tried to grab it, knocked it up, caught it, whirled and scored as two Wallabies tried to grab him.

Ellis’s bizarre reward for scoring the try was to be substituted. It looked like a tactical substitution. It did not seem that Ellis was going off injured, nor was there any trace of blood on him. He was not injured and not bleeding.

When Lote Tuqiri chipped and chased Cowan heroically dived at his toes and saved a certain try. He then kicked downfield. His kick was not out and Ashley-Cooper counterattacked. When he was tackled Cowan was right there. A tackle/ruck developed with Cowan in it. From it the ball emerged and Rocky Elsom scored a try.

Cowan then left the field hobbling. His left knee seemed to be giving him trouble. There was no sign of bleeding. Then Ellis came back to replace him.

Two minutes later, there was about to be a drop-out to Australia, when the referee was called to the touch line where there was a meeting of referee, assistant referee and 3 and 4 to discuss Ellis’s presence on the field. One of those controlling the coming and going of players reported: “No.9 [Ellis] was replaced substituted. The replacement came off for blood. He [Ellis] came back on.”

The assistant referee examined the doctor’s paper and Ellis was allowed to stay.

At matches of this nature there is an independent doctor who could determine the reason for leaving, in addition to each team’s doctor. In this case, only after Ellis had gone back on, the doctor ruled that Cowan had left the field because he was bleeding.

This is the crux of the matter. Ellis was not injured and Cowan was apparently bleeding.

Because Ellis was not injured he was allowed to return to the field but only to take the place of a bleeding player. He could not replace a player who was injured but he could replace a bleeding player.

It may seem semantics but in fact there is logic to it. An injured player is removed and not allowed to play for his own good. The bleeding player is removed for the convenience/good of other players. He could play on.

The removal of a bleeding player came about because HIV/AIDs became endemic and there were fears about contaminated blood, though the danger in a rugby match of such infection must be almost zero.

If Ellis had been injured he would not have been allowed back on. If Cowan had been injured but not bleeding Ellis would not have been allowed back on – unless Cowan was a front-row player, which he certainly was not.

That Cowan was bleeding is a decision for a doctor. It is unnecessary for the referee to try to gauge that sort of thing when there are officials who can deal with the matter. The odd part of the officiating is why the 3 or 4 brought the matter up at all.

Where was he bleeding?

According to the All Blacks’ assistant coach he had a cut mouth. When he was examined on the field by a medic the signal given was that Cowan was bleeding.

Because he went off bleeding Cowan was then allowed back on within 15 minutes. He did that.

The whole episode may not be as sinister as people suggest – provided that Cowan was bleeding, and there is no evidence to disbelieve the medic, the doctor and the coach.

Let’s look to the law.

Law 3. 7 PERMANENT REPLACEMENT
A player may be replaced if injured. If the player is permanently replaced, that player must not return and play in that match. The replacement of the injured player must be made when the ball is dead and with permission of the referee.

Law 3.10 TEMPORARY REPLACEMENT
(a) When a player leaves the field to have bleeding controlled and/or have an open wound covered, that player may be temporarily replaced. If the player who has been temporarily replaced does not return to the field of play within 15 minutes (actual time) of leaving the playing area, the replacement becomes permanent and the replaced player must not return to the field of play.
(b) If the temporary replacement is injured, that player may also be replaced.
(c) If the temporary replacement is sent off for foul play, the replaced player may not return to the field of play.
(d) If a temporary replacement is cautioned and temporarily suspended, the replaced player may not return to the field of play until after the period of suspension.

Law 3.12 SUBSTITUTED PLAYERS REJOINING THE MATCH
If a player is substituted, that player must not return and play in that match even to replace an injured player.

Exception 1: a substituted player may replace a player with a bleeding or open wound.

Exception 2: a substituted player may replace a front row player when injured, temporarily suspended or sent off.