Law Discussion - 13 January 2008
January is already rushing away as we finish Round 6 of Europe’s championships with law matters to discuss from five Heineken Cup matches.
The matches are Ospreys vs Gloucester in the Swansea rain, Wasps vs Llanelli, Saracens vs Biarritz, Cardiff Blues vs Harlequins in Cardiff mud and Leinster vs Toulouse.
There are many things one could discuss but we shall choose just a few.
There are six clips taken from matches on the South African Referees site which may be of interest – www.sareferees.co.za.
We shall give time as it appears on the television clock. The Heineken Cup does not stop the clock as happens in most serious rugby. In fact the other day in a Top 14 match in France, the hooter was used to signify that time was up in a half.
1. Penalty try?
This one has occurred before – a penalty try when the ball is not even in play, as if the referee’s patience or nerve has snapped and he seeks a solution to what seems an impasse.
Saracens are playing Biarritz at Vicarage Road,. The score is 38-16 well into stoppage time.
Let’s look at the sequence of events on one spot five metres from the Biarritz line.
a. The referee awards the scrum. Before the ball is in, the scrum collapses and the referee orders a reset.
b. The scrumhalf puts the ball in and Saracens move forward, but the scrum collapses. The referee says it was a slip and awards orders a reset.
d. The scrumhalf puts the ball in and Saracens push forward. The scrum collapses and the referee penalises Biarritz for collapsing the scrum.
e. Saracens opt for another scrum. The scrumhalf puts the ball in and the scrum collapses. The referee orders a reset.
f. The scrumhalf has not put the ball in when the scrum collapses. The referee awards a penalty try.
There is only one reason to award a penalty try – when foul play prevents the probable scoring of a try.
Law 10.2 UNFAIR PLAY
(a) Intentionally Offending. A player must not intentionally infringe any Law of the Game, or play unfairly. The player who intentionally offends must be either admonished, or cautioned that a send off will result if the offence or similar offence is committed, or sent off. After a caution a player is temporarily suspended from the match for a period of ten minutes playing time. After a caution, if the player commits the same or similar offence, the player must be sent off.
Penalty: Penalty Kick
A penalty try must be awarded if the offence prevents a try that would probably otherwise have been scored. A player who prevents a try being scored through foul play must either be cautioned and temporarily suspended or sent off.
For a try to be scored, the ball needs to be in play. If the ball is dread nobody can score a try.
In the case of this penalty try the ball was dead. It was in the scrumhalf’s hands. That makes the probable scoring of a try impossible. The ball needs to be in play to make a try possible, let alone probable.
In fact this passage of play lasted for over five minutes, some of those minutes when the ball was in play, which made a try possible. But in that time Saracens did not score a try. Possible and probable are different things.
Whenever the ball, is in play a try is possible.
The penalty try would have made sense in b., c. or d. In each of those cases the ball was in and the scrum was moving forward.
But it does not make sense in a. or e. when the ball was not in play.
What the penalty try does is break am impasse. penalise Biarritz again and Saracens will again opt for a scrum. They may well opt for the scrum in expectation of a penalty try.
The referee could sent a Biarritz offender off for repeated infringement, temporarily or fully. That was the route Joel Jutge took when England were outscrumming Australia. It reduced Australia to 14 men. Matt Dunning came on and the match was finished with uncontested scrums. Jutge bit the bullet.
The referee could send off more than one man, and risk the possibility of uncontested scrums but leaving Biarritz short of defenders.
Those are options in the case of repeated infringements. Not the penalty try.
Nobody was sent off for repeated infringement not even for one so drastic that it warranted a penalty try.
It’s something to think about.
Perhaps a law change is required.
The incident happened after 85 minutes of the match.
2. Try or no try?
The score is 13-all as Richard Houghton steps inside and darts at the line, ball under his right arm as he plunges to the ground in a tackle by Jacques Cronje of Biarritz.
The referee consults the television match official who advises that Houghton had knocked the ball on and so the referee awards a five-metre scrum to Biarritz.
Sporting Houghton clearly believed that he had lost the ball and was satisfied with the decision.
But was it right?
Did Houghton’s losing immediately cancel the possibility of a try?
Was it a knock-on?
Presumably it was, but if the ball had not gone forward from Houghton’s hands, would it have been a knock-on?
No, it would not have been. Law 12. A knock-on occurs when a player loses possession of the ball and it goes forward.
Two things. Houghton lost possession of the ball but if it did not go forward it was not a knock-on.
Houghton then grounded the ball. If it had not been a knock-on and he first grounded the ball, it would have been a try.
The incident occurred after 42 minutes – in the second half that is.
3. An aggressive pillar
Saracens goal a penalty and Biarritz kick off. Kris Chesney of Saracens catches the ball and is tackled by Jerome Thion of Biarritz. A tackle ruck occurs, during which Thion again gets to his feet.
The referee can be heard calling: “Last feet. No.1 come back.”
No.1 is Nick Lloyd, the Saracens prop. He blocks Thion’s passage forward and even grabbing his jersey.
The referee penalises Lloyd.
Lloyd was in front of the last feet and acting as a pillar. He would have been all right if he had been behind the last feet (and not tugging Thion’s jersey).
4. After the maul
a. Kevin Sorrell of Saracens charges. He us held by Jacques Cronje, Trevor Hall and Petru Balan, all four staying on their feet. In come Kris Chesney and Andy Farrell of Saracens. They are all on their feet. It is a maul
The maul collapses.
The referee awards the scrum to Biarritz.
Right?
Yes.
Law 17.6 UNSUCCESSFUL END TO A MAUL
(a) A maul ends unsuccessfully if it remains stationary or has stopped moving forward for longer than 5 seconds and a scrum is ordered.
(b) A maul ends unsuccessfully if the ball becomes unplayable or collapses (not as a result of foul play) and a scrum is ordered.
(c) Scrum following maul. The ball is thrown in by the team not in possession when the maul began. If the referee cannot decide which team had possession, the team moving forward before the maul stopped throws in the ball. If neither team was moving forward, the attacking team throws in the ball.
The incident occurred after 27 minutes.
b. Riki Flutey of London Wasps kicks high. Ceiron Thomas, the Llanelli Scarlets fullback, catches the ball. As he does so Fraser Waters grabs him. They stay on their feet. Two Wasps players join in. Two Scarlets players join in. It is a maul
The maul falls to ground and the referee awards the scrum to the Scarlets. Lawrence Dallaglio of the Wasps queries the award of the scrum to the Scarlets.
The referee says: “It’s the law.”
The referee was right.
Law 17.6 UNSUCCESSFUL END TO A MAUL
(a) A maul ends unsuccessfully if it remains stationary or has stopped moving forward for longer than 5 seconds and a scrum is ordered.
(b) A maul ends unsuccessfully if the ball becomes unplayable or collapses (not as a result of foul play) and a scrum is ordered.
(h) Scrum after a maul when catcher is held. If a player catches the ball direct from an opponent’s kick, except from a kick-off or a drop-out, and the player is immediately held by an opponent, a maul may form. Then if the maul remains stationary, stops moving forward for longer than 5 seconds, or if the ball becomes unplayable, and a scrum is ordered, the team of the ball catcher throws in the ball.
‘Direct from an opponent’s kick’ means the ball did not touch another player or the ground before the player caught it.
If a maul moves into the player’s in-goal, where the ball is touched down or becomes unplayable, a 5-metre scrum is formed. The attacking team throws in the ball.
The incident occurred after 37 minutes.
5. It looks so wrong
a. Wasps throw in to a line-out. George Skivington catches the ball and Wasps group around him while the Scarlets stand off. They do not make contact with the Wasps. The Wasp group move forward a little way and Nathan Thomas of the Scarlets comes running round behind the Wasps group and drives in on Skivington.
The referee lets play go on.
right?
Yes. Terre was no maul and the line-out was over. Clever Nathan Thomas was entitled top do what he did.
This happened after 44 minutes, in the second half.
b.Valentin Courrent of Toulouse misses a penalty attempt and Leinster drop out. Fabien Pelous jumps for the ball and so does Bernard Jackman of Leinster. Pelous catches the ball and turns to face his scrumhalf. Jackman goes slightly beyond Pelous and turns to play him.
The referee calls: “2 is OK.”
And he was. When he played Pelous there was no maul. There was nothing that made Jackman off-side. Then once he was caught up in the maul there was no need for him to give way as he had come legally to his position.
This happened after 47 minutes.
6. Stopping the tap
After Brian O’Driscoll is tackled a there is a tackle ruck which Leinster are winning, but impatient Jean Bouilhou comes in at the side and into Rob Kearney who is loose at the back of the tackle/ruck. The referee calls advantage.
The ball comes back to Gordon D’Arcy who is immediately behind the tackle/ruck. He wants the advantage and dabs the ball on the ground.
The referee blows his whistle and indicates advantage.
D’Arcy tales a tap kick and starts running forward.
The referee stops him and indicates that he had tapped the ball on the ground.
Why? There is nothing about that in the law.
If this is some local ruling, it is a bad idea. Local rulings are bad ideas.
This happened after 85 minutes.
7. Charged down
In the field of play the ball comes back to Chris Keane of Leinster who kicks to clear. Yannick Nyanga charges down the kick which rolls into the Leinster in-goal where Felipe Contepomi gathers. He runs the ball back out into the field of play and Leinster eventually clear.
There was no need for Contepomi to run the ball out. Nyanga had played the ball into the in-goal. If Contepomi had grounded it there, it would have been a drop-out.
This happened after 50 minutes.
8. Harsh on Harlequins
Harlequins are attacking with many a pick-‘n-drive. Tom Guest of Harlequins picks up and drives ahead, not very far, as Martyn Williams and Paul Tito of Cardiff grab him and ride him to ground.
Tito remains folded over Guest and the ball. Gary Botha puts a book on Tito’s back. There is no Cardiff player on his feet in a position to play the ball.
The referee blows his whistle and penalises Guest, showing that he was holding on. (It was a surprise decision, given Tito’s action and given the absence of anybody to play the ball.)
This happens about nine metres from the Cardiff line. Jason Spice of Cardiff taps the ball and passes to Rush who sets off.
Haldane Luscombe of Harlequins is about 20 metres from the Cardiff line when Spice taps. He moves sideways and slightly forward and tackles Rush, dislodging the ball which flies back towards the Cardiff line where David Strettle of Harlequins gathers the ball and is certain to score.
The referee stops Strettle and penalises Harlequins for not being back 10 metres.
The only player this could have applied to was Luscombe. It certainly looked that he was indeed a good 109 metres back.
9. Off-side at a knock-on
We talked about this last week. There is a clear example this week.
Eoin Reddam of Wasps hoists a kick downfield. Nathan Thomas of Llanelli waits to catch the ball but knocks on under pressure. The ball goes forward from him. Several Wasps players are in close attendance but Simon Easterby of Llanelli, in front of Nathan Thomas, grabs the ball, thus preventing a Wasp from getting the ball.
One would have thought that that was a clear example of a penalty for being off-side at a knock-on.
This happened after 7 minutes.
10. Scrum naughtiness
a.Harlequins put the ball into a scrum. The referee is on the “other” side. Harlequins heel the ball. Martyn Williams, Cardiff’s right flank, swings a right boot round and tries to hook the ball back.
OK?
No – free kick.
This happens after 82 minutes.
b.Wasps put the ball into a scrum. The referee is on the “other” side. As Reddam puts the ball in Simon Easterby, the Scarlets’ right flank. flicks out a hand and knocks the ball to his side.
OK?
No – penalty kick
This happened after 81 minutes.
c.Mark McMillan of Wasps puts the ball into a scrum. The referee is on the “other” side. Harlequins heel and work the ball to Lawrence Dallaglio who is at No.8. McMillan does not retreat abut stays in front of the ball, deliberately keeping the Llanelli scrumhalf Gavin Cattle from getting to Dallaglio.
OK?
No – penalty kick.
This happened clearly after 59 minutes and 61 minutes.
It may be that standing on the “other” side has limited and specific value. It ,may also mean that a referee on the “other” side may need to bend a bit more.
