Laws: Tackle - the first of the Big Four

During the SA Referees course at Newlands, attended by the top 11 referees in South Africa plus the people who assess them and the people who select them, applying laws to the Big Four were discussed – the Tackle, the Scrum, Offside and the Maul & Obstruction.

We shall look at what was discussed under each heading, starting with the tackle.

Tackles are the main purveyors of penalties – not just the act of tackling but what happens after the tackle. Those interested in the laws would have watched the match at Newlands between the Stormers and the Western Force, refereed by Mark Lawrence, one of the referees at the course.

The penalty count was 17-12 against the Stormers. 29 penalties. That’s a lot. Of the 29, 14 were at the tackle. The main culprits were the Stormers who conceded 9 penalties at the tackle.

Talking about this phase of play Lawrence said: “We were too lenient in the past and in that way taught the players bad habits. We need to get the tackle right to give the game quick ball. In the match on Saturday I became more lax in the second half and tried to allow advantage off slow ball. It got us nowhere. Nothing happened.”

The famous coach at Blackrock College in Dublin,  Father Anthony Hampson, said it: “After the grace of God the most important thing in life is quick ball from a ruck.” Rugby should canonise Fr Hampson if the Pope will not.

There is a shift in emphasis at the tackle this year. Referees are told to pay closer attention to the tackler.

At a tackle, the tackled player is required to get the ball away from himself immediately.

Law 15.5 THE TACKLED PLAYER

(b) A tackled player must immediately pass the ball or release it. That player must also get up or move away from it at once.
Sanction: Penalty kick

(c) A tackled player may release the ball by putting it on the ground in any direction, provided this is done immediately.
Sanction: Penalty kick

(d) A tackled player may release the ball by pushing it along the ground in any direction except forward, provided this is done immediately.
Sanction: Penalty kick

(e) If opposition players who are on their feet attempt to play the ball, the tackled player must release the ball.
Sanction: Penalty kick

The tackled player is required to get rid of  the ball. Then he must have a chance to get rid of it. For that reason the emphasis moves to the tackler. He is required to be on his feet to play the ball. Nothing new there. But what has been happening is that the tackler has kept and unbroken grip on the tackled player. He has often been “rewarded” for doing this by winning a penalty.

Now he is required to have a clear break in contact. They are not required to throw hands wide but make a clear break. Lawrence mentioned that in Saturday’s match, François Louw was a tackler, he released the tackled player, clapped his hands and grabbed the ball. Clapping his hands was proof positive that he had released the tackled player.

Breaking contact to the player who brings a ball-carrier to ground but does not go to ground himself.

Law 15.6 (c) Players in opposition to the ball carrier who remain on their feet who bring the ball carrier to ground so that the player is tackled must release the ball and the ball carrier. Those players may then play the ball providing they are on their feet and do so from behind the ball and from directly behind the tackled player or a tackler closest to those players’ goal line.
Sanction: Penalty kick

Again, like a tackler (i.e. one who goes to ground) the player who stays on his feet to make a tackle must break contact with the tackled player/ball-carrier.

Then the tackler who has released the ball and is on his feet must make a real attempt to lift the ball. It is not enough for him to keep his hands on the ball, thus winning a penalty against the tackled player for holding on.

That is the main change of emphasis.

Re-emphasised is the need for the tackler – and any other fallen players – to clear away from the tackled player so that he can exercise his options. Clearing away means clearing away from the ball. It is not enough for the tackler to throw hands in the air to show that he is not playing the ball while his body continues to block the ball. the tackler is out of the game till he is on his feet.

If the tackler releases and then plays the ball, he will be higher off the ground than if he clung to the tackler throughout. For arriving players there will be less need to go in low and hard to remove the threat because the threat will have removed himself.  Arriving players are then less likely to go to ground and will have better access to the ball.

Getting compliance from players is more than just penalising. It is also a matter of management.

If you watched last weekend’s matches you would see the advantage of having a referee who manages the tackle well – gets in their close and active, giving clear instructions to definite players, and then withdraws when the contest for the ball is over. They produce quick ball. If you watched Alain Rolland and Alan Lewis, you would have seen quick ball from the tackle and lively matches. Those two referees got in close and definite. If you had watched Munster play Northampton Saints you would have seen the stodgiest of matches because there was hardly any quick ball from a tackle.

Slow ball produces a kick or a single pass for another tackle and more slow ball.

Tappe Henning, the IRB selector and a man of great influence in the world of refereeing, pointed to a SANZAR agreement amongst coaches and referees that strict action will be taken against non-compliance.

Henning said: “Referees who do not comply will be informed per official letter to uplift their efforts.
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“Players and teams who are identified as ‘serial offenders’ will be  informed per official letter via their coach on the specific issues that they are expected to assist to eliminate the negative play.
 
“All referees and teams in the various competitions will be informed on the non compliance identified.
 
“As referees will be expected to uplift their efforts so will teams be expected to address the issues pointed out to them. It will become a joint responsibility to uplift the quality of the game.”