Six Nations Incidents, Week Five

The Six Nations have come to a sudden end with a dramatic three-match Saturday. We look at some incidents from the three matches in terms of the Laws of the Game.

In two of the matches there were TMO-advised tries which had a huge bearing on the Championship and in the third a turn-up as winless Wales beat England coming off a victory over the champions.

There are things to talk about, inevitably, amongst them mistaken identity in Paris and two tries worth debating in Rome.

We have given statistics for both Six Nations and Super 14. Later we shall discuss incidents from Super 14 and do our little compliance check.

1. Alibi

David Marty ran down the touch-line on his left. He kicked ahead. Replacement Rory Lamont launched himself into Marty after he had kicked and the touch judge flicked out a flag to indicate foul play.

In the Scottish 22 Sean Lamont caught Marty’s kick and claimed a fair catch.

The referee consulted the touch judge, and they then called Sean Lamont over and sent him to the sin bin. Not surprisingly Sean Lamont was surprised and said: “I wasn’t there.” He had an alibi for he was back catching the mark. But, with great gentlemanliness, he went off the field to the sin bin.

There were replays showing the infringement.

There are differences in the appearances of the Lamont brothers, hair-colouring for example and the numbers on their backs. Sean had 14 on his back, Rory 22. This was a give-away on the replays.

Rory did not rush to own up and the television match official, who would have seen the replays, remained silent. But then he is obliged to remain silent. This is not an area in which he is allowed to give advice.

A few years ago SANZAR competitions had a dispensation from the International Rugby Board to use the TMO to identify a perpetrator of foul play. That no longer applies, though in this case it cried out for some sort of word of warning whispered down the airwaves from TMO to referee.

Such a case of mistaken identity is embarrassing.

What would the referee have done if Rory had owned up?

2. Flank in the tunnel – again

Italy put the ball into a scrum. There is pressure on the scrum and the ball is stuck in the tunnel. Josh Sole, the Italian flank, stands up to put his foot into the tunnel to hook the ball back.

OK?

No.

Law 15.9 (f) Locks and flankers: Staying out of the tunnel. A player who is not a front-row player must not play the ball in the tunnel.
Penalty: Free Kick

3. Tantamount to off-side

Matteo Prattichetti of Italy runs with the ball into dense Irish defence. David Wallace of Ireland tackles him and both go to ground, Wallace holding Prattichetti. Prattichetti lays the ball back immediately and Shane Horgan of Ireland picks it up.

The referee penalises Horgan who was on his feet when he picked up the ball.

Right?

There was no ruck formed but the referee was right.

Why?

Law 15.6 (c) At a tackle or near to a tackle, other players who play the ball must do so from behind the ball and from behind the tackled player or the tackler closest to those players’ goal-line.

How near is near?

Within one metre.

4. Double trouble

We have two samples from the same match, Italy vs Ireland in Rome.

Let’s take the second first. It concerns that overused phrase “double movement”, a real pain in the neck. It is interesting to ask for a definition of double movement or even to ask what is single movement. “Double movement” leads to woolly thinking.

a. Rolland de Marigny of Italy is charging at the Irish line in the right-hand corner. Jerry Flannery of Ireland dashes across and knocks him over without tackling him.

That De Marigny is not tackled is not really relevant in this instance as he does not get up again. As De Marigny comes to ground the ball is under his right arm at his right shoulder but his body moves forward. It stops moving forward, the ball under his right arm he moves the arm forward and onto the line.

The referee refers the matter to the TMO who replays several times.

While the replays are going on the commentator talks.

Commentator: “This can be construed as double movement very easily.

“The ball is grounded there. Now does he stretch out and ground it?”

The TMO advises that it is a try – a fatal score as things turned pout after Elvis Vermeulen’s last-gasp, TMO-advised try in Paris.

If by double movement we mean that De Marigny propelled his body forward after it had stopped, then it would have been wrong. But he does not use and arm or his legs to push his body forward. His body, knocked to ground, moves forward, and that momentum is legal. It is in the impetus of the knock-down, just as Flannery’s body keeps moving.

When his body stops moving forward De Marigny moves the ball far enough forward to score the try. He is entitled to place the ball forward. Placing the ball forward does not have to be with a stretched arm or anything dramatic. What he did was adequate and within law. Because the ball is on the ground in the tackle does not mean that the player is not allowed to place it.

Law 15.5 (g) If players are tackled near to the goal-line, these players may immediately reach out and ground the ball on or over the goal-line to score a try and make a touch-down.

b: Denis Hickie broke and passed to Gordon D’Arcy who raced for the line. Roland de Marigny of Italy tackled D’Arcy from behind and cleverly rolled him over to prevent him from grounding the ball. D’Arcy is then above De Marigny but facing down with the ball resting on De Marigny’s arm. But D’Arcy plays on, lifts his body up and plonks the ball down. The referee awards the try while Italian players query the decision.

Law 15.1 A tackle can take place only in the field of play.

Over the goal-line there is no tackle, scrum, ruck or maul.

There is a clip of this incident on www.sareferees.co.za

In this movement there is what look like a forward pass to those with a bird’s eye view – view the flightless referee did not have. It may well have been an error not to have whistled for the pass. The referee certainly was competent and experienced enough to know what makes a forwards pass. That he did not whistle, probably means that he did not have a good view. If he did not have a good view, he would have had to guess. Now that would have been wrong. Guessing is not honest, and guessing and getting it wrong is seriously reprehensible.

There used to be a passage in the laws which is no longer there. It is a pity it is no longer there. It read: A pass throw or knock-on should not be adjudged an infringement unless it is clearly so under law. If there is zany doubt play should be allowed to proceed.

5. Damnable stoppages:

Referees have been urged to hurry players along when they are injured. Stoppages are annoying to watchers. Stoppages for injuries and substitutions are one thing but there are more annoying stoppages than those. Line-outs take a long time and referees can be heard urging hookers to hurry things along.

One annoying stoppage is to reset a line-out. The ball is thrown in and then the referee stops the game to talk about the damned gap. That is annoying, especially if he arrived too late at the line-out to set the gap.

It is also annoying if he tells players to move and they do not but he rewards them, with a pious “Thank you”.

Perhaps the most annoying of all is fiddling with the referee’s back to tune in his speaking apparatus. Sometimes it happens even before kick-off. All is set for the kick-off, that dramatic start to a game, and the excitement fizzles out to fiddle with the referee’s back.
To a simple fellow it seems odd that, four decades after man walked on the moon, it is so hard to get his bit of gadgetry right.

6. Not quite time

The last bit of the Italy-Ireland match serves to remind us how time works.

The award of a penalty does not mean time up. If there is a knock-on or a forward pass or a line-out when time is up, the referee could be entitled to blow the final whistle, but not if there is a free kick or a scrum.

In this match, a minute beyond 80 minutes had passed as the Irish looked to score a try. The Andrea Scanavacca was penalised for a trip.

The Irish played on.

On 81 minutes 26 seconds, Marco Bortolami was penalised for going off-side.

The Irish played on.

On 82 minutes 14 seconds Gordon D’Arcy was penalised for holding on.

On 82 minutes 43 seconds Rolland de Marigny scored a try.

The TMO deliberated, the referee awarded a try and then the conversion was taken. Only then was the final whistle blown.

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.

(f) If time expires after a try has been scored the referee allows time for the conversion kick to be taken.