Law Discussion i - goal-line decisions

There is always a lot to talk about on the application of the laws of the game whenever we watch a game. This is so because of the complex nature of the laws and the complex nature of the game, both of which make huge demands on a human being who is a referee.

This week we have a few issues. We shall do them in three sections In this one we shall deal with three in-goal incidents. In the second section we shall deal with an aerial decision and  the relationship between the referee and the coach. In the third section we shall deal briefly with scrums and line-outs.

1. Three in-goal incidents.

Hard one first.

a.  The Blue Bulls play Free State at Loftus Versfeld, a match which the Blue Bulls won 30-27.

Jacques-Louis Potgieter, the Free State flyhalf, kicks as Deon Stegmann and Dewald Potgieter charge at him. They charge the kick down. The ball flies into the Free State in-goal.

Stegmann is first to the ball, touches it but does not ground it. Dewald Potgieter then dives on the ball and grounds it.

The referee refers the matter to the television match official, asking him if it was a Try or No try.

The TMO then views the incident from the side, which is a slightly better view than the referee had, and then from the front.

What must the TMO look for?

There is an IRB protocol governing what and how the TMO is allowed to act. That protocol includes the sort of thing the TMO is allowed to look for.

IRB Protocol Area of Jurisdiction

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.

In this case the TMO’s job was to see who, if anybody, grounded the ball. Clearly neither touch nor foul play comes into consideration. It’s about grounding the ball – only about grounding the ball.

The TMO could see that Stegmann did not ground the ball nor did he knock on in trying to ground the ball. Then he moved to Dewald Potgieter. He could see him grounding the ball.

The TMO could then advise the referee that the ball had been correctly grounded by the attacking team. Therefore he came up with the customary formula: “You may award the try.”

When you see the action from side-on – which was the referee’s view and on the clip at an even better angle than the referee had – it is unclear which of the two players the ball strikes, in other words who charges the ball down.

From front on things are clearer. Dewald Potgieter charges the ball down. At that stage Stegmann is ahead of Dewald Potgieter, That means that Stegmann is in an offside position.

Law 11 DEFINITIONS

In general play a player is offside if the player is in front of a team-mate who is carrying the ball, or in front of a team-mate who last played the ball.

11.1 OFFSIDE IN GENERAL PLAY
(a) A player who is in an offside position is liable to penalty only if the player does one of three things:
• Interferes with play or,
• Moves forward, towards the ball or
• Fails to comply with the 10-Metre Law (Law 11.4).
A player who is in an offside position is not automatically penalised.
(b) Offside and interfering with play. A player who is offside must not take part in the game.
This means the player must not play the ball or obstruct an opponent.

Stegmann was in an offside position and he played the ball. He is thus liable to penalty.

Law 11.2 BEING PUT ONSIDE BY THE ACTION OF A TEAM-MATE
In general play, there are four ways by which an offside player can be put onside by actions of that player or of team mates;
(a) Action by the player. When the offside player runs behind the team-mate who last kicked, touched or carried the ball, the player is put onside.
(b) Action by the ball carrier. When a team-mate carrying the ball runs in front of the offside player, that player is put onside.
(c) Action by the kicker or other onside player. When the kicker, or team-mate who was level with or behind the kicker when (or after) the ball was kicked, runs in front of the offside player, the player is put onside.
(d) When running forward, the team-mate may be in touch or in touch-in-goal, but that teammate must return to the playing area to put the other player onside.

None of those four actions applies to Stegmann. He is offside and does not get put onside and plays the ball. He should have been penalised.

Two things:

The referee had no replay. His view was the side-on view and to have penalised would have taken guesswork. The referee did not guess. For this he should be praised.

Secondly, that offside is outside of the TMO’s protocol. In other words the TMO was not allowed to rule on the offside even if he saw the offside. If he had gone outside of the protocol and advised offside, he would have been liable to censure. The end does not justify the means!

Deficiency in the protocol? Perhaps. But it is such a complex game that it is hard to regulate every possibility.
There is a lesson for referees in this – not to take for granted that what seems likely to happen will in fact happen. Moving towards Jacques-Louis Potgieter may well have given the referee and his assistant (it was not far from touch) a better view of who charged down and  the relative positions of the charging players.

There is a clip of this on the SA Referees website – www.sareferees.co.za, Clip No. 11

b. Northampton Saints play Saracens in a tight match at Wembley Stadium, London.

Saracens attack on their right. Fullback Alex Goode chips and seems to be checked by Northampton wing Paul Diggin. But play goes on as Saracens have a real chance of scoring as flying win Noah Cato chases the ball as it bounces towards the Saints’ line, but lock Juandre Kruger intervenes. Just short of his line Kruger bats the ball with his left hand over the dead-ball line.

The referee penalises Kruger.

Right?

Law 10.2 (c) Throwing into touch. A player must not intentionally knock, place, push or throw the ball with his arm or hand into touch, touch-in-goal, or over the dead ball line.
Penalty: Penalty Kick on the 15-metre line if the offence is between the 15-metre line and the touchline, or, at the place of infringement if the offence occurred elsewhere in the field of play, or, 5 metres from the goal line and at least 15 metres from the touchline if the infringement occurred in in-goal.
A penalty try must be awarded if the offence prevents a try that would probably otherwise have been scored.

It certainly was right in this case as Kruger made no attempt to grab the ball but simple slapped it dead.

Penalty try? It was not given but was certainly possible as Cato was right there. But what about the argument that if Kruger had caught the ball Cato would not have scored. That is a specious argument. All the referee has to judge on is what Kruger did – which was an illegal act. If he had not done what he did do, Cato would quite probably have scored.

Yellow card? That is up to the referee but certainly to be considered.

Law 10.2 UNFAIR PLAY
(a) Intentionally Offending. A player must not intentionally infringe any Law of the Game, or play unfairly. The player who intentionally offends must be either admonished, or cautioned that a send off will result if the offence or a similar offence is committed, or sent off. After a caution a player is temporarily suspended for a period of ten minutes playing time. After a
caution, the player commits the same or similar offence, the player must be sent off.
Penalty: Penalty Kick
A penalty try must be awarded if the offence prevents a try that would probably otherwise have been scored. A player who prevents a try being scored through foul play must either be cautioned and temporarily suspended or sent off.

The referee admonished and penalised. Kruger may have got off lightly.

Place of the penalty? In this case the infringement occurred about a metre from the goal-line and so the place of the penalty was moved back to five metres from the goal-line, and if the infringement had occurred in in-goal the place would have been the same.

c. On advantage, Sarel Pretorius the Griqua scrumhalf chips ahead. Tonderai Chavhanga of Western Province, chases back but cannot control the ball. Pretorius foots ahead towards the Western Province goal-line. Just before the line Frikkie Welsh of Western Province gathers the ball as he runs back into his in-goal. Under pressure from Pretorius Welsh tries to clear the ball rather than concede a five-metre scrum.

Welsh passes to Gio Aplon who is also under pressure. Aplon then passes to Joe Pietersen, but as Pretorius tries to get at Aplon he is knocked out of the way.

Law 10.1 (c) Blocking the tackler. A player must not intentionally move or stand in a position that prevents an opponent from tackling a ball carrier.
Penalty: Penalty Kick

The referee blows his whistle and penalises Western Province.

Right?

He gives the mark of the penalty five metres from the Western Province goal-line.

Right?

There is an old rugby myth that believes you can do anything in in-goal with impunity. That is not so. Infringements in in-goal are the same as infringements in the field of play. The difference is where  the sanction occurs.

If the ball is alive, as it is in this case, the sanction for the infringement  will be five metres from the goal-line. There was no probability that a try would have been scored were it not for the obstruction as the ball was in the possession of the Western Province players.

If there had been a knock-on, the scrum would have been five metres from the goal-line. Obstruction is a penalty offence and so the penalty is five metres from the goal-line,. As a matter of interest, when Naas Olivier of Griquas took the ball back to kick at goal, where were the Western Province players obliged to stand?

On their goal-line. The mark does not move back if the kicker takes the kick further back.

On the SA Referees’ website, www.sareferees.co.za, Clip 7 shows this incident.