Law Discussion ii - up in the air
In this section we are going to refer to the match at Loftus Versfeld between the Blue Bulls and Free State which the Blue Bulls won 30-27 as Free State fought back from 20-3 down.
1. Free State win the ball on their left and flyhalf Jacques-Louis Potgieter hoists a high kick to his right. François Hougaard of the Blue Bulls comes forward to catch the ball. Lionel Mapoe of Free State comes forward to catch the ball.
Both players have the heads up to look at the ball. Mapoe’s full attention is on the ball.
Both jump. Mapoe jumps higher, perhaps because he is the taller man, perhaps because he had greater impetus. One this in certain is that his attention is on the ball. So much so that he catches the ball.
The referee penalises Mapoe and says: “Taking a defender out.”
It is not clear what this would mean. Mapoe did not bash Hougaard out of the way and then catch the ball.
Both jumped. It is a small ball in a single place and that there would be physical contact is unavoidable and not evil. There are no after-yous in rugby!
All that happened was that Mapoe jumped better than Hougaard and caught the ball.
Was there a penalty because Mapoe had a leading leg?
It’s hard when jumping forward not to have a leg leading. It also seems that the leg had no influential contact with Hougaard at all – as the slow motion shows. (The referee may well have liked slow motion!)
Maybe it was because Mapoe was running forward. But there is nothing in the laws which says that player may not run forward and jump for the ball. There is nothing that demands stand and jump.
There was a similar incident in the Test between New Zealand and Australia when Cory Jane ran forward, leapt above James O’Connor and won the ball for New Zealand’s important first try. In that case the try was allowed.
There is a clip of the incident on the SA referees’ website – www.sareferees.co.za, Clip 9.
2. There was much discussion of this incident and criticism of the decision, as well there might have been in itself and in such a tight match. Inevitably there were cries that the referee “cost Free state the match” – and perhaps a place in the semifinals and so on. The referee made a mistake but it was not the only mistake that contributed to Free State’s defeat The yellow card for Ashley Johnson and missing Wynand Olivier certainly contributed to Free State’s defeat.
There was also complaint that the referee had refused to talk to the Free State coach afterwards.
First of all, acknowledge that coaches in a situation like this are under great pressure, especially after Free State’s poor start to the season which has placed them in danger of not making the semis. But as players are required to keep their composure under pressure, so must a coach – though it may be harder for the coach.
It is wrong for a coach to berate the referee in the tunnel as he is walking back to start the second half.
Berating is ineffective in any case. It will not change a single decision.
If the coach comes to the changing room after the match through an open door and asks to speak to the referee. He is likely to be allowed to do so. If the speaking to the referee is not asking a question but berating the coach, then the assistant referee may well intervene, especially if the referee, in the shower, is a guest in South Africa. The chance to cool off may well apply to the coach and not just the referee.
Of course, there are genuine questions that a coach may want to ask a referee and a referee would normally be only too glad to answer. It is better not done in a heated atmosphere.
Good manners should still prevail.
