Semis' incidents
Including that scrum
There was all the drama of the semi-finals in the Super 14 this weekend. One was cut-and-dried, the other touch-and-go. Touch-and-go produced controversy. We shall look at some incidents, including that one at the scrum and two at the line-out.
We have already given the statistics of the matches and also some general statistics for the Super 14 round robin matches. (For the semis' stats, click here. For the summary of statistics, click here.)
1. Crossing the line
There were two incidents which were treated in the same way.
a. Masoe oversteps the mark
In the first half the Waratahs throw in at a line-out. Adam Freier throws deep to Rocky Elsom, second from the back. Elsom soars up, catches the ball and comes down to earth with it before passing it to Chris Whitaker, the receiver. Elsom catches the ball and comes to ground inside the 15-metre mark. While he is catching the ball, Chris Masoe skips/shuffles over the 15-metre line infield from the line. He is infield of the 15-metre line when Elsom gives the ball to Whitaker, and the line-out ends only when Elsom gives the ball to Whitaker.
Whitaker passes to flyhalf Daniel Halangahu who runs ahead. Masoe tackles him.
The referee penalises Masoe, saying: "Line-out not over and the flank went infield and affected the play."
Masoe looks mystified – as he usually does when penalised.
The Waratahs goal the penalty to make the score 8-6 in their favour.
b. Waugh oversteps the mark
Early in the second half, the Hurricanes throw in at a line-out. Andrew Hore throws to Paul Tito who is second from the front in the line-out. Tito brings the ball down and prepares to give it to Piri Weepu.
Standing at the back of the Waratahs' line-out is loose forward Phil Waugh. He is at the 15-metre mark initially but almost immediately moves infield. When Tito gives the ball to Weepu (thus ending the line-out) Waugh is a good metre infield from the 15-metre mark.
Weepu passes to David Howell who runs right ahead, rather in the fashion of Halangahu in the incident above. Halangahu tackles Howell and almost simultaneously Masoe and Waugh drive in to contest the ball.
The referee penalises Waugh saying: "Line-out not over. Moving infield, close to the play."
Waugh, like Masoe, looked mystified. Mind you, before the referee penalised Waugh, Masoe, presumably now enlightened about the law, pointed out that Waugh was off-side and when Waugh was penalised clapped his hands gleefully. Nothing quite like the virtue of the reformed sinner!
Before he penalised Waugh the referee had tried to keep Waugh honest. He pointed to him and said urgently: "Get in. Get in." Waugh opted not to get in.
Commentator: "Phil Waugh is absolutely mystified at that. Was he directly involved in play?"
Waugh was involved in play.
A line-out takes place between 5 and 15 metres from touch.
Law 19.13 (e) No player of either team participating in the line-out may leave the line-out until it has ended.
Penalty: Penalty Kick on the 15-metre line.
Waugh and Masoe were in the line-out. Crossing the 15-metre line before the line-out was over – which they each did – meant that they had left the line-out. They were thus subject to the penalty of a penalty, which is what happened.
It was not really all that mystifying. Looking or even being mystified is not the same as being innocent!
2. Off the mark
Fourie du Preez of the Bulls kicks a high ball down into the Crusaders 22. Leon MacDonald of the Crusaders catches the ball and calls for the mark. He is given the free kick. He waits for his players to come back and then he starts to move forward to kick the ball.
Bryan Habana of the Bulls darts forward at MacDonald, who is taken by surprise and instead of kicking the ball passes it to Chris Jack. The referee awards a scrum to the Bulls.
MacDonald looks mystified.
Referee right?
Yes
At a mark the ball must be brought into play with a kick (or a scrum). If that does not happen the kick is deemed void and a scrum is awarded.
Law 21.8 (f) Preventing the free kick. If the opposing team charge and prevent the free kick being taken, the kick is disallowed. Play restarts with a scrum at the mark. The opposing team throw in the ball.
Habana was entitled to charge when MacDonald started his run-up to kick.
Law 21.8 (e) Charging the free kick. Once they have retired the necessary distance, players of the opposing team may charge and try to prevent the kick being taken. They may charge the free kick as soon as the kicker starts to approach to kick.
3. That scrum
Peter Hewat puts the Waratahs ahead with a penalty goal. The Hurricanes kick off but Luke Andrews is well in front of the kicker. The referee blows his whistle for what turns out to be a happy fault – case of felix culpa, though not evident at the time.
The Waratahs opt for a scrum in the middle of the half-way line. Matt Dunning is on at loosehead.
The scrum is set but goes down, Dunning leading the way down.
The referee resets the scrum. Again Dunning first puts his left hand on the ground and then gets it up again. Again the scrum goes down. This time it looks as if the far side leads, where Al Baxter is packing against Joe McDonnell.
For those who are avid referee watchers, it is possible to listen only to the referee's communication – with the players, his touch judges and the TMO, instead of listening to the commentators.
At this stage the touch judge tells the referee it would be a good idea to come to the "other" side because McDonnell is putting his hand on the ground. The timing of this and the referee's action is important in view of subsequent accusations levelled at the referee. Just hang onto that thought.
The referee then goes to the other side where Baxter is packing against McDonnell. Again the scrum goes down,. The referee's gesture is that Baxter had been using his right arm to bring McDonnell's left arm inside towards his hooker, thus initiating the collapse of the scrum. So he penalises Baxter, who looks mystified.
Gopperth goals the kick which makes the score 16-14 to the Hurricanes with some eight or nine minutes to play.
The front row is regarded as a dark and mystifying world, and it is assumed that referees, being dainty, know nothing about it. But there is not a referee worth his salt that has not gone to all sorts of lengths to try to understand the dynamics and workings of the scrum.
The referee's signal in this case suggested that tighthead Baxter had used his arm to destabilised the scrum which was suffering. It was the Waratahs' ball all right, but perhaps Dunning and his mates were not at all comfortable/.
When that collapsed scrum came up, it did not look that the Hurricanes were lower than the Waratahs at all, which is what one would have expected if they had collapsed the scrum by pulling it down.
Ask a hoary old prop how he, at tighthead, would bring a scrum down and he will immediately start speaking bout using his right arm on the loosehead's left arm in much the way the referee gestured was the case at this scrum.
If the referee saw what his educated eye told him was wrong, he was obliged to believe what he saw and act accordingly. The problem for the video detective is that the camera stays on Dunning's side and not on Baxter's side.
In the accusations against the referee was the statement that the touch judge had in fact called his attention to the Hurricanes' illegality and that he had ignored or overruled the touch judge. That was not the case as he had in fact acted on the touch judge's suggestion and moved to the "other" side. The suggestion came after the second collapse not with the third collapse.
Putting the hand down to get steady – as Dunning did three times – is not wrong provided that the hand is lifted for binding.
But back to Baxter. Being a tighthead he had a specifi way to bind which did not include binding on McDonnell's arm, if that is what he did,
Law 20.3 (d) Binding by tight-head props. Tight-head props must bind on the opposing loose-head props' by placing their right arm outside the left upper arm of the opposing loose-head prop. The tight-head prop must grip the loose-head prop's jersey with the right hand only on the back or side. The tight-head prop must not grip the chest, arm, sleeve or collar of the oppostion loose-head prop. The tight-head prop must not exert any downward pressure.
Penalty: Penalty Kick
If Baxter did anything to cause the scrum to collapse – and this was the third collapse – then, too, the penalty was fitting.
Law 20.8 (g) Twisting, dipping or collapsing. Front-row players must not twist or lower their bodies, or pull opponents, or do anything that is likely to collapse the scrum, either when the ball is being thrown in or afterwards.
Penalty: Penalty Kick
(h) Referees must penalise strictly any voluntary collapsing of the scrum. This is dangerous play.
Penalty: Penalty Kick
Unfortunately for us the television evidence is entirely inconclusive. We just cannot see what happened. It would make more sense to believe the referee who was a metre or two from the incident.
What options did the referee have, by the way?
He could have reset the scrum or he could have penalised. Those were his only options.
What about the frree kick?
It is not an option for a collapsed scrum, which is what this was.
4. Quick throw-in where
From a line-out on their left the Crusaders attack right. Leon MacDonald eludes Frikkie Welsh and grubbers down towards the Bulls' cornerpost. The ball eludes Pedrie Wannenburg and bobbles on with Aaron Mauger in hot pursuit. Covering across from the right wing, Akona Ndungane dives at the ball and knocks it into touch less than a metre from his cornerpost.
Mauger skips after the ball, picks it up and runs back to the five-metre line. He throws in to Corey Flynn who is some 13 metres from touch, and Flynn scores.
The quick throw-in was perfect in all respects. Too perfect?
After all did Mauger have to go back to five metres from the Bulls' goal-line?
No.
Law 19.2 QUICK THROW-IN
(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.
The line-out may not be closer than five metres from the goal-line. This does not apply to the quick throw-in.
