Law Discussion: place of the quick throw

There is a clip  – Number 3 on the South African referees’ site – www.sareferees.co.za, that is well worth talking about. And there are some other matters.

1. Place of the quick throw–in

The discussion was basically about playing advantage but we should like to shift to another aspect of the incident.

Stade Français knock on and, after a long passage of play in which Ulster get the ball three times from tackles, Ulster get the ball. From outside his 22 Isaac Boss passes back to Niall O’Connor who is inside his 22 and about 10 metres back from Boss. There is no pressure on him and he has his backs outside of him.

All this time the referee has an arm out to show advantage. O’Connor kicks to his right. It is a long kick going towards touch. The referee calls “advantage over”. When the ball goes directly into touch the referee decides that he called advantage over wrongly and goes back to the scrum.

But other things happened. When the ball went out the assistant referee ran back towards the 22 to give the line-out opposite the place where O’Connor had kicked the ball.

Stade Français race down the touch-line and near the place where the line-out was going to be throw in quickly to a player steaming up and he has a clear run to the Ulster line.

This bit of play was null and void ]because the referee had – strangely – decided that advantage was not over after all and so was going back to the scrum.

But was what Stade Français tried to do OK?

Law 19.2 QUICK THROW-IN

(a) A player may take a quick throw-in without waiting for a line-out to form.

(b) For a quick throw-in, the player may be anywhere outside the field of play between the place where the ball went into touch and the player’s goal line.

Stade Français were taking the quick throw-in ahead of the place where the ball went out.

That is not OK.

2. Advantage over

Let’s go back to the rest of the action where the referee called advantage over and then cancelled his call.

What is advantage?

Law 8.1 ADVANTAGE IN PRACTICE
(a) The referee is sole judge of whether or not a team has gained an advantage. The referee has wide discretion when making decisions.

(b) Advantage can be either territorial or tactical.

(c) Territorial advantage means a gain in ground.

(d) Tactical advantage means freedom for the non-offending team to play the ball as they wish.

O’Connor had the freedom to make many choices. He could have run with the ball, kicked the ball downfield or passed the ball. He had freedom to play the ball as he wished. He wished to kick the ball and got it wrong by kicking it out on the full after Ulster had taken the ball back into the 22. That he may have made the wrong choice is entirely his own fault.

Calling Advantage over is a decision. Then, having called it over, is the referee allowed to change his decision?

Law 6.A.6 REFEREE ALTERING A DECISION

The referee may alter a decision when an assistant referee has raised the flag to signal touch or an act of foul play.

It may not have been clever refereeing.

3. Substituting a substitute

Rory Lawson, playing for Gloucester, is replaced by Dave Lewis of Gloucester, scrumhalf for scrumhalf. Then Lewis was injured – seriously as it turned out  for he broke his ankle.

Would Lawson be allowed back?

If he was injured he was not allowed back at all.
If he was substituted – tactically withdrawn – he was not allowed back unless Lewis was bleeding.

It is different for the front row players where a substituted player is allowed back on.

In this match Lamb came on to play scrumhalf and he did a good job.

Law 3.12 SUBSTITUTED PLAYERS REJOINING THE MATCH

If a player is substituted, that player must not return and play in that match even to replace an injured player.
Exception 1: a substituted player may replace a player with a bleeding or open wound.

Exception 2: a substituted player may replace a front row player when injured, temporarily suspended or sent off.

4. Send him off, ref

If some sort of perceived foul play happened, somebody in the crowd was bound to call out: “Send him off, ref.” Now players are doing it.

Time was when the referee sent off a player for foul play and the captain of the other side would try to have the player recalled.

That has gone in the game of money, and now captains will sometimes suggest to the referee that he send a player off, not necessarily for foul play – perhaps just for getting it wrong at a tackle.

It happened when Gloucester played London Irish. Not for the first time London Irish No.8 Chris Hala’ufia was penalised for  behaving recklessly. The Gloucester captain Olivier Azam – he of the theatrical dive against Cardiff Blues – came to speak to the referee.

The referee said to him: “Don’t come across and tell me give a yellow card.”

Bless the referee for that.

5. Infringement, then try

Gloucester attack down the right. Willie Walker runs clear  with Ian Balshaw outside of him. Ahead is London Irish fullback Delon Armitage. Walker draws Armitage and passes to Balshaw who runs through for the try that won the match.

After Walker passed and before Balshaw scored, Armitage tackled Walker. It was a late tackle. The assistant referee put out his flag to tell the referee that foul play had occurred. They discussed the matter.

The try, of course, stood, but what of Armitage?

First point: there could be no penalty try or indeed any penalty. The incident occurred while the ball was alive and the great advantage was Balshaw’s try. Balshaw would also not have scored in a better place if Armitage had not tackled Walker late.

What else can the referee do?

He can deal with the foul play as he deems fit – admonition, caution and yellow card, or sending off permanently, red card.

6. Concentrate!

The match officials need to be vigilant for all of the 80 minutes of a match.

The Shimlas of the Free State University are on the attack against Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University. They are deep in the 22 but are penalised. Understandably NMMU decide to clear their lines and give the ball to their flyhalf Willem  Laubscher. Laubscher went to the mark, tapped the ball to himself, ran forward and kicked the ball out on the full.

That he kicked it out on the full did not matter but whose line-out is it?

The referee and the assistant allowed NMMU to throw in but it should have been the Shimlas’ ball.

When Laubscher tap-kicked the ball he took the penalty. Then when he kicked it out it was no longer a penalty kick. It was general play. In general play Laubscher kicked the ball out.

It should have been Shimlas’ ball.