Roman time, gentlemen

What a nasty ending to a rugby match! The Roman ending to Wales’s romantic effort to win a rugby match was truly horrible.

There the Welsh were, passing up the offer of a draw in search of victory and were eagerly planning their next move when suddenly the guillotine fell on their hopes and plans.

In Roman times timekeeping was difficult. Dates were cumbersome and hours were approximate and dependent on the sun. In Rome on Saturday, it seems, the timekeeping was far more exact, down to the cruel second.

Italy had only just scored to make it 23-20 with little time left.

Wales kicked off to the sparsely populated right but Italy secured the ball and Ramiro Pez kicked the ball out. It was not a great clearance kick, in touch about three metres inside the Italian 22, a good attacking place for Wales.

Wales throw in and win the line-out. Dwayne Peel darts and is tackled as Wales take the ball through five phases – left, right, left, right, until Fabio Staibano, a prop make his debut off the replacement bench, is penalised. Wales at that stage, far from making headway, had actually gone back several metres, but the kick was in a decidedly kickable position for James Hook.

Wales have a powwow. Do they go for the draw or do they try to win the match? Time is clearly a major issue.

It is not possible on the television broadcast to hear the complete conversation between Wales and the referee, but it is clear that they asked him how much time was left and he said: “Ten seconds.”

The commentator says that the referee had said that there was time for the line-out.

Hook then kicks the ball into touch about ten metres from the Italian line. The referee goes to the place and again pushes his ear to hear, while the Welsh huddle back where the penalty was take, doubtless planning what to do at this crucial line-out. This time we hear the TMO saying: “I have time.” By that he obviously meant that as far as he was concerned the time was up. The referee blew the final whistle.

There was a clock which was stopped and restarted according to the referee’s Time Off/Time On instructions during the match.

It went something like this:

79.37: Penalty awarded
79.55: “Ten seconds”
80.00: “Ten seconds”
80.01: Penalty taken
80.02: Whistle to indicate line-out
80.19: Whistle blown to end the match

There is a similar time table at the end of the first half. Ramiro Pez kicks the ball into touch.

We hear the referee say: “That’s the time up there.”

And then: “We’ve awarded the line-out. We play.”

Time table:

39.53: Whistle goes to indicate that the ball is in touch.
39.59: “That’s the time up there.”
40.02: “We’ve awarded the line-out. We play.”
40.20: The ball is thrown in

That’s the thing in seconds, but think about it. How absolute is that time. The time cannot be exact to the second. That is impossible.

What would have been better at the end of the match would have been a simple statement, like: “There is no time for the line-out.” Or “There will be time for the line-out.” It was not good communication, as the referee said in his gallant apology soon after the match.

It would have saved much grouchiness. If what had happened at the end of the first half had obtained at the end of the second half, there would have been less grouchiness.

But what does the law say?

Law 5.1 DURATION OF A MATCH

A match lasts no longer than eighty minutes plus time lost, extra time and any special conditions. A match is divided into two halves each of not more than forty minutes playing time.

There were no special conditions. What makes up time lost?

Law 5.4 4 TIME LOST

Time lost may be due to the following:

(a) Injury. The referee may stop play for not more than one minute so that an injured player can be treated, or for any other permitted delay.

The referee may allow play to continue while a medically trained person treats an injured player in the playing area or the player may go to the touch-line for treatment.

If a player is seriously injured and needs to be removed from the field of play, the referee has the discretion to allow the necessary time to have the injured player removed from the field-of-play.

(b) Replacing players’ clothing. When the ball is dead, the referee allows time for a player to replace or repair a badly torn jersey, shorts or boots. Time is allowed for a player to re-tie a boot-lace.

(c) Replacement and substitution of players. Time is allowed when a player is replaced or substituted.

(d) Reporting of foul play by a touch judge. Time is allowed when a touch judge reports foul play.

It may be worth noting that the time taken for things like setting and resetting scrums, getting the ball into line-outs, taking kick-offs and drop-outs are not “time lost”. They are part of playing time.

Then, an important statement here which was applied at the end of the first half:

Law 5.7 (e) If time expires and the ball is not dead or an awarded scrum, line-out, mark, free kick or penalty kick has not been completed, the referee allows play to continue until the next time when the ball becomes dead. If time expires and a mark, free kick or penalty kick is then awarded, the referee allows play to continue.

So the ball may well be thrown into a line-out or scrum even when time has expired if the scrum or line-out has been awarded but not completed. A scrum for example may be reset several times after time has expired if it was awarded before time expired.

At the end of the match between England and France at Twickenham on Sunday, the scrum was awarded, time expired and then the scrum was set. The point was that it was awarded before time had expired.

The matter of time keeping and announcing is worth mentioning again. The first point to be made is that the referee keeps the time. It was his decision when to blow the final whistle. But he is allowed to have help in keeping time, as was the case in Rome where the television match official was also the time=-keeper.

Law 5.3 TIME KEEPING

The referee keeps the time but may delegate the duty to either or both the touch judges and/or the official time-keeper, in which case the referee signals to them any stoppage of time or time lost.

It may just be wise to do what happens in SANZAR countries where there is a designated time-keeper to sounds a siren the moment time is up. The referee still blows the final whistle appropriately but then everybody knows clearly what the time situation is.

It may have saved some anger, disappointment and bewilderment in Rome if a siren had announced – urbi et orbi, to the city and the world, as the Pope would say – that time was gone. The sound of the siren often adds to the drama of a match’s ending. It certainly takes the onus off the referee and dispenses with the need to speak and hear through electronic devices which do not always work so well. Clearly the referee in Rome was straining to hear.

What the referee cannot do is turn the clock back. The referee in Rome may wish now that he could turn the clock back.

Of course, Wales would still have had a lot of work to do to score a try. When they had won the line-out before this one, they actually lost ground, but if they had had the line-out and failed they would have had nobody but themselves to blame.