Law Discussion - catch again

It was cold in Europe last weekend  but some matches got through and there is a point of law or two to make.

1. Scrums

In the match at Franklin’s Gardens was a mercy in terms of recent scrummaging. There were 19 scrums and only two collapsed. This was a big improvement on Saracens vs London Irish and Bath vs Sale Sharks the week before when the figures were 15 collapses in 16 scrums and 14 collapses in 16 scrums.

Why the difference?

2. Caught ball maul

 Lee Dickson, the Northampton Saints scrumhalf, kicks high. Geordan Murphy of Leicester Tigers comes in, as he so often does, and catches the ball cleanly, as he so often does. As he catches the ball, Scott Hamilton of Tigers binds on him and Paul Diggin of Northampton Saints grabs him.
 
 It did not last long but we had a maul.  
 
 Law 17 DEFINITIONS
 
A maul occurs when a player carrying the ball is held by one or more opponents, and one or more of the ball carrier’s team mates bind on the ball carrier. A maul therefore consists of at least three players, all on their feet; the ball carrier and one player from each team. All the players involved must be caught in or bound to the maul and must be on their feet and moving towards a goal line. Open play has ended.
 
 Murphy was the player carrying the ball. He was held by Diggin who was an opponent. Hamilton, a team-mate, bound on Murphy. It was a neat maul in terms of the definition.
 
 It then went to ground and the ball became unplayable.
 
 It now qualified as an unsuccessful maul. The Laws determine how the ball is awarded for a scrum following an unsuccessful maul. This was no ordinary maul. It was a maul after a catch.
 
Law 17.6 (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.

So the scrum goes to Leicester Tigers.

The referee said: “Straight from a catch. Team going forward.”

The first part of what he said was right. The criterion for awarding the scrum was the maul after catch.

The second part was nonsense. The award of a scrum after an unsuccessful maul has nothing to do with the team going forward. That’s after an unsuccessful end to a tackle or a ruck.

If a maul ends unsuccessfully the scrum goes against the team in possession when the maul began. That would have been Leicester Tigers – except for this case of the maul when the catcher is immediately held.

3. Whose ball?

We have lots of these.

Eoin Reddan, the Wasps’ scrumhalf, hoofs the ball downfield. It bounces high but does not go out. Nick Easter of Harlequins is waiting for the ball. He grabs it.

Easter has a right toe and a left heel on the line when he grabs the ball. In other words he is in touch. because he is in touch, the ball is in touch. Because Wasps kicked the ball which went into touch, the Harlequins throw into the line-out.

Which is what happened.

Commentator: “I am confused how it’s Harlequins line-out.”

It was not confusing, just a difficult call because Easter’s feet were moving.

4. Downward pressure

Riki Flutey of Wasps dives for the corner as he is tackled. He holds the ball which squirts away.

The television match official has several replays before deciding.

At one stage the commentator says: “Flutey had just enough downward pressure.”

No downward pressure at all was needed because Flutey was holding the ball.

Law 22.1 GROUNDING THE BALL
There are two ways a player can ground the ball:

(a) Player touches the ground with the ball. A player grounds the ball by holding the ball and touching the ground with it, in in-goal. ‘Holding’ means holding in the hand or hands, or in the arm or arms. No downward pressure is required.
(b) Player presses down on the ball. A player grounds the ball when it is on the ground in the in-goal and the player presses
down on it with a hand or hands, arm or arms, or the front of the player’s body from waist to neck inclusive.

5. Penalty try

In the match between the Wasps and the Harlequins, there is a penalty try after a scrum.

The referee had penalised the Harlequins loosehead Aston Croall twice and warned him about his wayward scrummaging.

Then there was a five-metre scrum to Wasps. Wasps went forward but slightly and the scrum wheeled slightly. The ball squirted out the side of the scrum where a Harlequin fell on it.

The referee went off to award a penalty try.

The reason for the penalty try is not clear to the remote watcher but it is worth noting that repeated infringement on its own is not a reason to award a penalty try.

It is only if the repeated infringement prevents the probable scoring of a try that a penalty try is awarded.