Law Discussion: From the Premiership

Wasn’t the crowd at Twickenham wonderful on Sunday? Over 76 000 spectators, a record for England’s Premiership, getting close to what Stade Français get at Stade de France. And it was a match that ended with great excitement, three tries in the last 12 minutes for a 21-20 result.

We discuss incidents from that match from a law point of view and from the match between Worcester Warriors and Northampton Saints at Sixways which the visiting Saints won 26-6.

1. 10 and stop

London Wasps throw into a line-out but the referee awards a free kick against them. When they then prevent Harlequins from playing quickly, the referee marches them on a stately 10 metres. Danny Care of Harlequins, ever livewire, runs to take a quick tap, but the referee stops him, saying: “When you have the 10, you can’t go quickly again.”

Is that so? Is it law?

Ransack the law book and you will not find it so. There is a proviso to ensure some sort of order but it does not prevent Care or anybody else from taking a quick kick.

Law 21.8 deals with what options the opposing team has at a free kick. Then there are the sanctions if they do not do what they should do.

Law 21.8 (h) Penalty: Any infringement by the opposing team results in a second free kick, awarded 10 metres in front of the mark for the first kick. This mark must not be within 5 metres of the goal line. Any player may take the kick. If the referee awards a second free kick, the second free kick is not taken before the referee has made the mark indicating the place of the free kick.

In this case the referee reached the mark of the advanced free kick and still stopped Care from taking it.

That, it seems, is wrong in terms of the law. After all most people want the game played quickly.

2. Hand on ball

Ugo Monye of Harlequins dashes forward but David Lemi brings him down in a tackle. Monye turns and places the ball back, his right hand on the ball. Wasps contest and Harlequins fight back, but Monye keeps a firm hand on the ball. He does so for 10 seconds or more.

OK?

No.

Law 15.5 THE TACKLED PLAYER
(a) A tackled player must not lie on, over, or near the ball to prevent opponents from gaining possession of it, and must try to make the ball available immediately so that play can continue.
Penalty: Penalty Kick
(b) A tackled player must immediately pass the ball or release it. That player must also get up or move away from it at once.
Penalty: Penalty Kick
(c) A tackled player may release the ball by putting it on the ground in any direction, provided this is done immediately.
Penalty: Penalty Kick
(d) A tackled player may release the ball by pushing it along the ground in any direction except forward, provided this is done immediately.
Penalty: Penalty Kick

Monye did not immediately release the ball or move away from it. He did probably prevent the Wasps from getting the ball with their initial counterrucking.

3. Scrums

Twickenham was in good shape. The climate was not all that different at Sixways.

The scrums went as follows:

Harlequins vs Wasps: 15 scrums, 4 resets, 12 collapses, 3 free kicks, 4 penalties
Worcester vs Northampton: 15 scrums, 3 resets, 6 collapses, 2 free kicks, 1 penalty.

The scrums at Sixways were considerably less problematic. A dozen collpases in 15 scrums is unacceptable.

There was one scrum in the second half at Twickenham when Tim Payne, the Wasps’ loosehead and destroyer-in-chief of the Harlequins scrum, had Mark Lambert’s jersey on the underside clenched in his fist. Payne pulled as hard as he could. The scrum collapsed and Harlequins were penalised.

The referee was on the other side of the scrum but this was clearly an unfair decision. The assistant referee may well have been in a position to see this and assist.

Law 20.3 (c) Binding by loosehead props. A loose head prop must bind on the opposing tighthead prop by placing the left arm inside the right arm of the tighthead and gripping the tighthead prop’s jersey on the back or side. The loosehead prop must not grip the chest, arm, sleeve or collar of the opposition tight head prop. The loosehead prop must not exert any downward pressure.
Penalty: Penalty Kick

“back or side”, “must not exert downward pressure”.

4. Where’s the scrum?

Northampton Saints score a penalty goal and Willie Walker kicks off deep for Worcester Warriors. Just inside his 22 Courtney Lawes of Saints catches the ball and passes it back, no doubt intending to get it to flyhalf Stephen Myler but the ball goes nowhere near Myler and flies some 20 metres over the dead-ball line.

Carried over.

Scrum. Where?

Law 22.11 BALL DEAD IN IN-GOAL
(a) When the ball touches the touch-in-goal line or the dead ball line, or touches anything or anyone beyond those lines, the ball becomes dead. If the ball was played into in-goal by the attacking team, a drop-out shall be awarded to the defending team. If the ball was played into in-goal by the defending team, a 5-metre scrum shall be awarded and the attacking team throws in the ball.

It is a five-metre scrum, not a scrum where Lawes passed the ball.

Lawes threw the ball back at an angle. Where will the scrum be – opposite where he threw it, or opposite where the ball crossed the goal-line or opposite where the ball crossed the dead-ball line?

Law 22.7 (d) If a defending player threw or took the ball into the in-goal, and a defending player grounded it, and there has been no infringement, play is restarted by a 5-metre scrum. The position of the scrum is in line with where the ball has been touched down. The attacking side throws in the ball.

The scrum will be opposite the place where the ball crossed the dead-ball line.

This is what happened in the match.

5. The hooking flank

Lee Dickson puts the ball into a scrum for Northampton Saints. The Saints get the ball but it sticks in the tunnel as the Worcester Warriors get a shove on. The ball is stuck in the tunnel, slightly on the Saints’ side. Pat Sanderson, the Warriors’ flank on the right side of the scrum, puts out a long left leg and hooks the ball back to the Warriors who get that rarity of modern rugby – a tighthead.

But should they have got the tighthead?

Law 20.9 (f) Locks and flankers: Staying out of the tunnel. A player who is not a front row player must not play the ball in the tunnel.
Penalty: Free Kick

The Warriors should not have got the tighthead. The Saints should have got a free kick.

6. Position

In both these matches ball from the tackle was slow. Sometimes it was the scrumhalf’s fault. The ball was available to be played but he preferred to pop his head up and down like a meerkat or fan his backside. Slow ball became slower.

The really good referees get speed into their game and this is the most important place to get the game happening quickly. A famous Blackrock coach once said: “After the grace of God the most important thing in life is quick ball from a ruck.”

To get that speed and accuracy into their game, the really good referees get to the tackle quickly and they know what they are looking for – what the tackler does and what the tackled player does and what arriving players do. But they need to be there quickly and close and then act quickly. They can always move away once the contest appears to be over and while the scrumhalf is playing choreographer, but in backing away they would stay aware of the ball and of the offside line. It is no good being square on, i.e. with shoulders parallel to the touch-lines. Offside is primarily the referee’s job – as are all decisions, even in this time when there are assistant referees.

It is no use using remote control, square on and in the middle of the tackle/ruck.

A referee should be seriously concerned if the ball from a tackle/ruck is slow in arriving to be played.