Law Discussion - Heineken Cup, Round 1

The flags are waving around Europe again as fans support their teams in the Heineken Cup. Players strive with sinew and muscle, and in the midst of it there is the lone referee, trying to help them all succeed in their endeavours.

We have some incidents from five of the matches which may well help refresh our knowledge of the laws. They have the virtue of being real happenings, not imagined ones.

The matches we refer to are Ulster vs Gloucester, Leinster vs Leicester Tigers, Edinburgh vs Toulouse, London Wasps vs Munster and Cardiff Blues vs Bristol.

For those who like doing little law tests, there is one on www.sareferees.co.za which has a prize attached. It is the seventh in a series of such competitions which has attracted answers from many parts of the world, including Mexico, the Philippines, Cyprus, Turkey, Kenya, Canada and the USA.

1. Commentators

From time to time we have quoted commentators when they have promulgated wrong law information to the world. This did not happen once in the five matches we managed to watch, which was a vast relief.

There are two worth mentioning from the Blues-Bristol match:

Commentator: “The Bristol player did go off-side but he was back before there was any impact upon play, which is why no decision was given there.”

That sounded excellent sense.

Tom Shanklin passed a long pass to Tom James, but it was forward. It was not obviously forward.

Having queried the call gently the commentator said: “It did seem though that it might have drifted forward.”

That was kind. But a forward pass is a forward pass not a forward catch. The ball must go forward off the hands, not because of momentum or wind.

2. Two technical issues

Man walked on the moon many moons ago, but in rugby football we battle with ordinary things.

a. Lines

More and more rugby is sharing grounds with soccer, and the markings of the two games differ. Apparently it is not possible to get rid of markings and so two sets of lines are visible on the field.

Peter Stringer of Munster tackles Paul Sackey of Wasps at the line and holds him up. The TMO is called in – but which line is the relevant line?

Man who walked on the moon must have a way of dealing with different lines for different codes.

b. Time

Do you remember the fuss the Canadians made during the World Cup about time?

The stadium clock – and the television screen – showed that time was up but the match lingered on and Japan beat Canada, much to Canada’s chagrin. They had expected the time shown to be playing time.

In the Heineken Cup we are back to running time, not playing time.

Bristol are leading Cardiff Blues 13-3 and the clock shows 42 minutes 40 seconds when Shaun Perry passes to Lee Robinson who kicks. Robert Sidoli of the Blues charges down the kick and the ball goes into touch.

On 43 minutes Mark Regan of Bristol throws into the line-out. The throw is skew.

43 minutes 10 seconds: the referee orders a scrum
43 minutes 32 seconds: Jason Spice feeds the scrum

The ball comes back to the Blues. Spice gives the Dai Flanagan who chips with exquisite precision and Jamie Robinson scores. Ben Blair converts and the half-time whistle goes.

There are timekeepers at these matches. The television match official often doubles as a timekeeper and is in contact with the referee, able to hear him declare time off or time on. It is possible to synchronise the timekeepers time and the time on the stadium clock and the television. It gets done in all sorts of parts of Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. It was eventually done at the World Cup in France.

It would make keeping up with the time easier for players and spectators.

3. 10-metres off-side

Brian O’Driscoll of Leinster kicks ahead. Andy Goode of the patterned facial hair falls back for the ball and before the goal-line plays the ball, knocking it back into his in-goal. He fetches the ball and from there, under pressure, kicks, but the ball slews off his boot wobbling infield to land about 6 metres inside the Leicester Tigers 22. There are Leicester Tigers players there, most obviously Louis Deacon who was nearest the ball when it landed. He was standing still and then moved towards the ball which landed about a metre from him.

Bearded Geordan Murphy of Leicester Tigers had fallen back behind Goode and when Goode kicked that horrible kick he raced downfield and past Deacon, raising his hand to tell the referee that he was there. The referee gave Leinster a chance to gain advantage and then penalised Leicester Tigers.

There was a question of this kind on www.sareferees.co.za, and several got it wrong.

Law 11.4 OFF-SIDE UNDER THE 10-METRE LAW

(a) New When a team-mate of an off-side player has kicked ahead, the off-side player is considered to be taking part in the game if the player is in front of an imaginary line across the field which is 10 metres from the opponent waiting to play the ball, or from where the ball lands or may land. The off-side player must immediately move behind the imaginary 10 metre line. While moving away, the player must not obstruct an opponent.

(b) While moving away, the off-side player cannot be put on-side by any action of the opposing team. However, before the player has moved the full 10 metres, the player can be put on-side by any on-side team-mate who runs in front of the player.

(c) When a player who is off-side under the 10-metre law charges an opponent waiting to catch the ball, the referee blows the whistle at once and the off-side player is penalised. Delay may prove dangerous to the opponent.

(d) When a player who is off-side under the 10-metre law plays the ball which has been mis-fielded by an opponent, the off-side player is penalised.

(e) New The 10-metre law is not altered by the fact that the ball has hit a goal post or a cross bar. What matters is where the ball lands. An off-side player must not be in front of the imaginary 10-metre line across the field.

(f) The 10-metre law does not apply when a player kicks the ball, and an opponent charges down the kick, and a team-mate of the kicker who was in front of the imaginary 10-metre line across the field then plays the ball. The opponent was not ‘waiting to play the ball’ and the team-mate is on-side.

Penalty: When a player is penalised for being off-side in general play, the opposing team chooses either a penalty kick at the place of infringement or a scrum at the place where the offending team last played the ball. If it was last played in that team’s in-goal, the scrum is formed 5 metres from the goal-line in line with where it was played.

(g) If more than one player is off-side and moving forward after a team-mate has kicked ahead, the place of infringement is the position of the off-side player closest to an opponent waiting for the ball, or closest to where the ball lands.

11.5 BEING PUT ON-SIDE UNDER THE 10-METRE LAW

(a) The off-side 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 on-side before moving behind the imaginary 10-metre line by any of the three actions of the player’s team listed above in Section 2. However, the player cannot be put on-side by any action of the opposing team.

The only way Murphy could have put Deacon and other Tigers on-side was if they were retiring when he passed them. They were not retiring. They were off-side and the referee was quite right to penalise them.

4. First infringement

Ollie Smith of Leicester Tigers knocks on. The ball bobs about and bobs back about five metres behind Smith. There big James Hamilton of Leicester Tigers knocks on.

Where do you give the scrum?

The principle of first infringement, applies when different teams infringe, not when the same team infringes again. The scrum will be where Hamilton knocked on.

5. Swinging penalty

From left of the uprights Felipe Contepomi of Leinster kicks at goal. The ball flies high outside the line of the nearer upright, the one on the left as Contepomi looked at it. Then it starts to swing in, still high.

The touch judge does not signal that it is over and Leicester Tigers drop out.

But it was close.

It was not easy. It was especially not easy if the touch judge was standing across from the upright instead of at the upright. If he had been at the upright he would more easily have seen the path of the ball in relation to the upright.

In a case like this, could the touch judge have told the referee that he was unsure?

Yes.

Could the referee then have referred the matter to the TMO?

Yes.

The IRB’s TMO Protocol:

3. Area of Adjudication

The areas of adjudication are limited to Law 6. 8 (b), 6.8 (d) and 6.8 (e) and therefore relate to:

– Grounding of the ball for try and touch down
– Touch, touch-in-goal, ball being made dead during the act of grounding the ball.

This includes situations where a player may or may not have stepped in touch in the act of grounding the ball on or over the goal line.

The TMO could therefore be requested to assist the referee in making the following decisions:

* Try
* No try and scrum awarded 5 metres
* Touch down by a defender
* In touch – line-out
* Touch-in-goal
* Ball dead on or over the dead ball line
* Penalty tries after acts of foul play in in-goal
* All kicks at goal including dropped goals.

The TMO must not be requested to provide information on players prior to the ball going into in-goal (except touch in the act of grounding the ball).

The TMO must not be asked to assist in any other decision other than those listed.

The referee must make an effort to make an adjudication. If he is unsighted or has doubt, he will then use the following process (4).

All kicks at goal.

6. But it’s my side

Nathan Budgett of Bristol charges. Gareth Williams of Cardiff Blues tackles him. The first player there is Paul Tito of the Blues and he bends to go for the ball. Matt Salter of Bristol comes charging ahead of Budgett and into Tito, The referee penalises Salter for side entry, and Salter looks hurt.

The referee is right. The law requiring entry “through the gate” applies to the arriving players of both sides.

7. Where’s the spot

Gareth Thomas of Cardiff Blues races ahead with the ball. Five metres over the half-way line he kicks ahead. It’s low a grubber kick that bounces two metres ahead of where he kicked the ball. He races after it but Shaun Perry of Bristol moves off his line to put his shoulder into Thomas on the Bristol 10-metre line. The ball ends on the Bristol 22.

The referee penalises Perry and talks to him. He was perhaps fortunate not to be sent to the sin bin as his team-mate Darren Crompton had been.

The Blues have an option of penalties. The one option is where Perry bumped into Thomas. Where will the other option be?

Clearly there is a choice of places – where the ball first bounced and where the ball ended up.

Law 10.4 (m) Late-charging the kicker. A player must not intentionally charge or obstruct an opponent who has just kicked the ball.
Penalty: The non-offending team may choose to take the penalty kick either at the place of infringement, where the ball lands or where it was next played.

The penalty in this case would be two metres ahead of where Thomas kicked the ball.

8. Off-side!

We have three incidents.

a. Splendid Mike Blair of Edinburgh darted ahead past Thierry Dusautoir of Toulouse but into William Servat who tackles him. Tackled Blair shoves the ball back a considerable distance where Dusautoir gathers it and sets off while the referee cries out: “Play on.”

What about off-side?

There is no off-side line at a tackle.

What about coming in through the gate?

Law 15.6 (c) At a tackle or near a tackle, other players who play the ball must do so from behind the ball and from directly behind the tackled player closest to those players’ goal-line.

Near? It is defined as within one metre.

Dusautoir was in the right and the referee was right.

b. Toulouse are under pressure deep in their own territory when prop Yohan Montes passes the ball back to wing Vincent Clerc who kicks. but Ross Ford of Edinburgh partly charges the kick. The ball flies off Ford’s hands back some 20 metres where Gregory Lamboley catchesthe ball. The referee cries: “Not off-side.”

Right?

Yes. Both Lamboley and the referee are right because Ford had deliberately played the ball.

Law 11.3 (c) Intentionally touches the ball. When an opponents intentionally touches the ball but does not catch it, the off-side player is put on-side.

c. William Servat of Toulouse throws into a line-out. He throws deep and beyond the 15-metre line Gregory Lamboley rises up and catches the ball. In the air he immediately throws the ball back to Yannick Nyanga. But as Nyanga gets the ball Mike Blair is onto him. He had anticipated Lamboley’s pass and had run beyond him before he passed the ball.

Off-side?

At what? The line-out was over when it went over the 15-metre line, no maul was formed and an opponent had last played the ball.

The referee was right to let play continue.