Law Discussion - 16 February
The Super 14 has come upon us and most of the law concentration has been on the Experimental Law Variations as introduced into the Super 214 as the International Rugby Board keeps examining the possible effect on the game before introducing changes in November.
We have some clips on the South African Referees’ website (www.sareferees.co.za) which show some aspects of the law changes.
We have also given two sets of statistics regarding the ELVs. We have also given the statistics from the seven Super 14 matches played from Christchurch to Bloemfontein.
We shall bring up some aspects of law in a brief discussion this week as we gird out loins for a big weekend ahead – three Six Nations matches and seven Super 14 matches.
We also have an incident from a Top 14 match.
1. Quick throw-in?
Julian Huxley of the Brumbies from a few metres outside his 22 kicks a long way downfield towards the touch-line on his right. There Scott Hamilton waits for the ball. He has a left foot in touch and a right foot in the field of play. Before the ball reaches the touch-line, Hamilton catches the ball. The touch judge immediately raises his flag.
Hamilton considers a quick throw but then throws the ball in touch some 30 metres down the line to his hooker Corey Flynn who is standing in touch.
Four questions?
Was the ball in touch when Hamilton caught it? Yes.
Was the throw-in to the Crusaders? Yes.
Could Hamilton have taken a quick throw-in? Yes
Could Flynn have taken a quick throw-in? No. Only the player who collects the ball in touch (Hamilton) is allowed to take a quick throw in.
This happens after 17 minutes.
2. ELVs in tackle action
a. Huia Edmunds of the Brumbies strides ahead with the ball and then gives it inside to eighthman Stephen Hoiles. Hoiles is tackled by Stephen Brett. Hoiles gets the ball back some way to Peter Playford who is immediately tackled by Casey Laulala as Laulala falls back..
Is Laulala on-side?
There is now an off-side line at a tackle. Laulala needed to be behind the tackle on Hoiles before he could tackle Playford.
The penalty for this offence is a penalty kick.
This applies only to the Super 14. If they had been playing in the Six Nations, what Laulala did would have been legal.
This happens after 24 minutes.
b. Sione Lauaki of the Chiefs bashes ahead but Jerome Kaino brings him to ground. The ball squirts out of Lauaki’s grasp to the wide where Troy Flavell is standing. Flavell picks up the ball.
The referee penalises Flavell, reminding him that there is now an off-side line at the tackle.
OK?
Yes – in Super 14 but not in the Six Nations.
This happened after 53 minutes.
3. Laulala rises
The Crusaders run the ball and Casey Laulala charges ahead but is tackled by Gene Fairbanks of the Brumbies who hangs onto a lower leg. Laulala holds onto the ball and stands up with it.
The referee blows his whistle and awards a free kick to the Brumbies.
Is this right?
In Super 14 it is right. In Six Nations it would have been a penalty.
The tackled player must play or release the ball, not stand up with it.
This happens after 38 minutes.
4. TMO OK?
Andrew Ellis of the Crusaders breaks and gives to Dan Carter who grubbers ahead towards the Brumbies goal-line. Mark Gerrard of the Brumbies and Scott Hamilton of the Crusaders dive for the ball which is knocked back into the in-goal where Francis Fainifo of the Brumbies grounds the ball.
The referee refers the matter to the television match official, asking about the grounding of the ball. That was a shrewd question.
Clearly Fainifo grounded the ball, but the hard part of the action was how the ball got into in-goal. Did Gerrard knock it back? Did Hamilton knock it back? Did d it find its own way back because of Carter’s kick.
The commentator understood what was going on and said: “I suppose technically under the IRB instructions you are not supposed to do this but I suppose it’s commonsense.”
What the referee did was within the IRB instructions – to ask about the grounding of the ball.
The shrewd TMO came back with the answer: “After the White player had knocked the ball into the in-goal, the White player grounded it.”
The referee, armed with the additional information, then awarded a five-metre scrum to the Crusaders.
It was the right decision.
This happens after 68 minutes.
5. Take back and kick
There is a scrum to the Blues on their 22. The 22 runs through the tunnel of the scrum. The Blues scrumhalf, Danny Lee, stands just inside his 22. The Blues heel the ball and Lee passes back to Nick Evans.
Nor that he did so, would Evans have been allowed to kick the ball directly into touch on the full with the subsequent line-out where the ball went back.
Wisely the New Zealand commentary team had a famous former referee in the commentators’ box to help with law explanations. He was able to tell them that on the 22 is regarded as in the 22.
Evans would have been allowed to kick directly into touch and gain ground.
This happened after 11 minutes.
6. Where should he be?
Ruan Pienaar puts the ball into a scrum for the Sharks. Matt Henjak of the Western Force does not stand next to him, as is usual, but away from the scrum behind the last feet.
Let us, for the purposes of discussion, say that Henjak is more than am metre from the scrum before the ball is out.
Is he on-side?
According to the letter of the law, he is on-side, which may just be a gap in the law which needs to be filled.
20.12 OFFSIDE AT THE SCRUM
(a) When the scrum is set, the scrum half not throwing the ball into the scrum must take up a position either at the same side of the scrum as the scrum half throwing in the ball or behind the off-side line defined for other players.
(d) The scrum half whose team does not win possession of the ball must not move to the opposite side of the scrum and overstep the off-side line for that scrum half that runs through the hindmost foot of that player?s team in the scrum.
Penalty: Penalty Kick
(e) The scrum half whose team does not win possession of the ball must not move away from the scrum and then remain in front of the off-side line for that scrum half that runs through the hindmost foot of that player?s team in the scrum.
Penalty: Penalty Kick
But the SANZAR countries have agreed to keep the scrumhalf near to the scrum, that is within a metre.
It remains dangerous to have local laws, local rulings, even within Experimental variations.
This happens after 55 minutes.
7. OK to come back
Biarritz play Montpellier in Montpellier. Late in the second half Montpellier substitute their scrumhalf, taking off Julien Tomas and sending on veteran Sebastien Buada in his place. Buada is barely on the field when he tries to kick to clear but Serge Betsen charges down the kick. Twice Buada grabbed Betsen without the ball. Buada was sent to the sin bin.
There were still nine minutes to play. Playing without a scrumhalf is hard and so Montpellier pulled off a flank and sent Tomas back on.
OK?
Not within law.
But the flank, Fulgence Ouedraogo, had been injured.
Tomas could still not go back on – unless Fulgence Ouedraogo was bleeding, which was possible though his injury occurred when he fell heavily in a line-out and was not necessarily blood-related.
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.
