Law Discussion: Heineken Cup, Rd Four

It’s a pity one cannot red-card the weather. It would have helped this past weekend when matches froze. Didn’t you admire Edinburgh and Bath in the ran/sleet/snow at Murrayfield, just for the way they tried to play constructive rugby in the freezing muck.

There are some aspects of Law that we shall discuss from matches in Week 4 of the Heineken Cup.

1. Offside!

a. Chris Paterson of Edinburgh chips and chases. Nick Abendanon of Bath collects the ball and is tackled by Paterson.

The referee penalises Ben Cairns.

Before he penalised Cairns he told Cairns to stop running forward. The prop hesitated and then continued running forward, presumably because he thought that Paterson had put him onside.

Paterson had run ahead of him but had not put him onside, because he was in that 10m-metre belt on either side of Abendanon that stretched right across the field., Cairns my have been 12 metres from Abendanon as the crow flies but he was not out of that 10-metre band across the field. He was only a metre or two ahead of Abendanon.

Because he was there, the only way he could come in side was if he was retreating when Paterson passed him. He was not retreating; he was advancing.

Law 11.5 BEING PUT ONSIDE UNDER THE 10-METRE LAW
(a) The offside player must retire behind the imaginary 10-metre line across the field, otherwise the player is liable to be penalised.
(b) While retiring, the player can be put onside before moving behind the imaginary 10-metre line by any of the three actions of the player’s team listed above in 11.2. However, the player cannot be put onside by any action of the opposing team.

b. Julian Salvi of Bath grubbers ahead but the ball almost immediately strikes Chris Paterson’s foot and ricochets sideward but slightly forward where Scott Newlands, the Edinburgh No.8, plays the ball as Nick Abendanon and Michael Stephenson home in on him.

This was not offside for being within 10 metres but the simple offside of being in front of a team-mate who last played the ball.

2. Unlucky to be penalised?

Ross Ford, the Edinburgh hooker charges ahead as Bath players close on him and stop his progress. One of those is Luke Watson who stays on his feet as Ford goes to ground. Watson bends to play the ball as Ben Cairns of Edinburgh drives in him.

The referee calls “No hands.” He calls no hands because a ruck was formed when Cairns made contact with Watson over the ball which was on the ground.

Watson continued to play the ball and the referee penalised him, saying: “I said ‘No hands’.”

The commentators did not like this. One said: “I thought Watson was on his feet there. Unlucky to be penalised.”

Watson was on his feet but that is not the only part of the law he was required to observe. He was also forbidden to use his hands in a ruck.

Watson was not unlucky; it would have been better if he had listened to the referee. It would have saved his side three points as Paterson, covered in snow, slotted the penalty.

3. Whose ball?

a. Edinburgh get the ball back from a creaky scrum. The ball comes out untidily to their left. It is out and Michael Claassen, the Bath scrumhalf, flykicks the ball which flies straight into the referee. It bounces back and Andy Beattie of Bath seeks to grab the ball.

The referee blows for a scrum, as he is required to do.

Whose ball?

Law 6.A.10 THE BALL TOUCHING THE REFEREE
(a) If the ball or the ball carrier touches the referee and neither team gains an advantage, play continues.
(b) If either team gains an advantage in the field of play, the referee orders a scrum and the team that last played the ball has the throw-in.

Claassen of Bath last played the ball. The referee gave the scrum to Edinburgh. That was wrong. It should have been Bath’s ball.

b.  Outside of his 22, Sean O’Brien if Leinster kicks high towards the  touch-line on his left where Rhys Priestland, the Scarlets’ fullback waits for the ball. Priestland has a foot in touch and a foot in the field of play. The ball drops infield of the touch-line as Priestland starts to catch it. But he does not catch it. He drops it in the field of play. Under pressure from O’Brien Priestland then picks up the ball and steps into touch with it.

The referee’s assistant raises his flag and seems about to give the line-out where Priestland went out but the referee exercises his right to overrule and back they go to a line-out to the Scarlets opposite where O’Brien kicked the ball.

Right?

Yes.

But the ball didn’t go out.

Law 19 DEFINITIONS

The ball is in touch when it is not being carried by a player and it touches the touchline or anything or anyone on or beyond the touchline.

Priestland is in touch. The ball touched him. The ball was in touch.

But…

Law 19 DEFINITIONS

A player in touch may kick or knock the ball, but not hold it, provided it has not crossed the plane of the touchline. The plane of the touchline is the vertical space rising immediately above the touchline.

The ball here had not crossed the goal-line. The crucial part then is whether or not Priestland held the ball.

If he held it, before he dropped it, the ball was out and the decision was correct
If he did not hold the ball but merely knocked it, the ball was not out and play could go on. In that case the decision was not correct.

It may be possible that Priestland held the ball momentarily but it seems that in fact it went through his hands, onto his body and onto the ground.

In that case the referee was not right in the exercise of his right to overrule and the line-out should have been where Priestland stepped out, Leinster ball.

4. Roll over

The weather in Dublin is not as bad as it is in Edinburgh but difficult nonetheless. After Rob Kearney scores his second try, Shaun Berne goes to convert it. As he starts his run up the ball rolls off the tee.

What could Berne do about it?

Law 9.B.2 (c) If the ball falls over before the kicker begins the approach to kick, the referee permits the kicker to replace it without excessive delay. While the ball is replaced, the opponents must stay behind their goal line.
If the ball falls over after the kicker begins the approach to kick, the kicker may then kick or attempt a dropped goal.
If the ball falls over and rolls away from the line through the place where the try was scored, and the kicker then kicks the ball over the cross bar, a goal is scored.
If the ball falls over and rolls into touch after the kicker begins the approach to kick, the kick is disallowed.
Penalty: (a)-(c) If the kicker’s team infringes, the kick is disallowed.

So Berne could have kicked it off the ground, which is what he tried, or kicked a drop kick.

5. Statistics:

a. Penalties

Does the home team have the advantage?

Perpignan play Munster in :Limerick and the penalty count is 18-5 against them.

A week later Perpignan play Munster in Perpignan and the penalty count is 14-8 for them, and the last three penalties happened in quick succession near the end.

It ‘s a big swing from 5-18 to 14-8.

b. Scrums

Often the falling of the scrum is blamed on the weather.

The weather was execrable over the weekend and so scrums should drop all over the place.

These are the scum stats for five matches:

Perpignan vs Munster: 13 scrums, 0 resets, 3 collapses, 3 penalties and a free kick.
Leicester vs Clermont:  21 scrums, 7 resets, 8 collapses, 1 penalty, 1 free kick
Leinster vs Scarlets:  19 scrums, 1 reset, 1 collapse, 1 penalty, 1 free kick
Edinburgh vs Bath: 21 scrums, 7 resets, 10 collapses, 3 penalties, 4 free kicks.

Two of the matches are certainly down to acceptable proportions and the other two are better than some in the recent past.

6. It hit the flag:

There are little flags on the top of the cornerposts at Stade Aimé-Giral. Ronan O’Gara kicks a long penalty down towards the touch-line on his left. He kicks to far. As the ball bounces past the corner post, the flag is blowing inwards and the ball, strikes it before going into touch-in-goal

The assistant tells the referee that the ball was out in touch-in-goal and so there will be a scrum where O’Gara kicked the ball.

Embarrassed the famous flyhalf tries to explain to the referee that the ball hit the flag.

The flag on the cornerpost has ever been nothing more than a decoration. It did not count, but the post did. Now the post does not count in the way it did. Even if it had hit the post and gone on dead in touch-in-goal or over the dead-ball line, the scrum, would have been back where O’Gara kicked the ball.

7. Scrum after a caught kick – yet again:

this one is possibly the one referees most often get wrong – the award of a scrum when the ball becomes unplayable after a caught kick.

Denis Leamy of Munster kicks ahead. Yohann Vivaldi of Perpignan catches the ball on the full. Immediately Leamy tackles Vivaldi and both go to ground before any other players can join in.

What has happened is a tackle. It is not a maul. It is a tackle which may become a ruck as other players join in. But clearly there never was a maul in this incident.

The ball became unplayable and the referee is to award a scrum. What criteria are used for awarding the scrum?

First we look at the law if there was only a tackle.

Law 15.8 DOUBT ABOUT FAILURE TO COMPLY
If the ball becomes unplayable at a tackle and there is doubt about which player did not conform to Law, the referee orders a scrum immediately with the throw-in by the team that was moving forward prior to the stoppage or, if no team was moving forward, by the attacking team.

Then, if there was a ruck, let’s look at the law.

Let’s look at the ruck.

Law 16.7 UNSUCCESSFUL END TO A RUCK
(a) A ruck ends unsuccessfully when the ball becomes unplayable and a scrum is ordered.
The team that was moving forward immediately before the ball became unplayable in the ruck throws in the ball.
If neither team was moving forward, or if the referee cannot decide which team was moving forward before the ball became unplayable in the ruck, the team that was moving forward before the ruck began throws in the ball.
If neither team was moving forward, then the attacking team throws in the ball.

The referee in this case did not apply either these criteria but instead showed that the ball had been caught and because it had been caught by a Perpignan he awarded the scrum to Perpignan.

If the referee awarded the scrum correctly it was for the wrong reason.

The award goes to the catcher’s side only if there was a maul and in this case there was no maul.