Super 14, Week 2, iii

From the matches

We have dealt with some statistics and with the red card given to Thys Stoltz. Now we are going to look at more general incidents, including some comment by the commentators which may not have been helpful.

To go to the stats on penalties and cards, click here.
For tries and kicks, click here.
For the red card discussion, click here.

1. Advantage?

When the Reds played the Crusaders in Brisbane there was debate from the commentators on the matter of advantage.

Let's look briefly at three incidents in the first half.

a. The Crusades are attacking about 15 metres from the Reds' line. The ball comes top Ross Filipo who is grabbed by Greg Holmes and Berrick Barnes. He loses the ball some five metres or so forward where Drew Mitchell of the Reds picks it up. There is no Crusaders close by and he runs some six strides and then left-footed kicks the ball a long way downfield.

When he kicks, the referee calls: Advantage over.

b. The Reds drop out deep. Ross Filipo knocks on and the Reds gather the ball on their left and pass right, Their second pass is to Berrick Barnes who has three men outside of him and quite a bot of space. Barnes kicks high downfield.

When he kicks the referee calls: Advantage over.

c. Croft of the Reds gets a pass, is tackled and loses the ball forward. Leon Macdonald of the Reds picks up the ball as the Reds bear down on him. Without taking a step he kicks high. The referee calls: Still on advantage, Whites.

Chris Latham of the Reds catches the ball. The referee blows, says No advantage and awards a scrum to the Reds.

The commentators have much to say about this, as indeed they had much to say about the refereeing during the match, some of which we shall address later.

Commentators' opinions on the three incidents above:

a. When the referee calls line-out over, the commentator says: "I don't think so. It's got to be a real advantage, Mr Lawrence. A poor kick if not a real advantage."

b. Commentator: Referee Lawrence called advantage over before Barnes kicked the ball. They had not advanced one metre.

Commentator 2: At that conference [We shall refer to that in 2. below} we talked about earlier, they said it had to be a real advantage, not a perceived advantage."

c. There was no comment.

Let's look at the law on advantage. It's a short law of immense importance.

Here is the relevant part:

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.

What the commentators seemed not to realise is that advantage is not about metres only. It is about the freedom to "play the ball as they wish".

In a. Mitchell had that freedom. He could have passed. He could have run further. He could have kicked differently.

In b. Barnes had that freedom.

In c. MacDonald did not have that freedom. The referee said as much: "You couldn't play the ball as you wished."

2. Commentators' conversation

The incident was a tackle/ruck. Reds' lock James Horwill burst through and was penalised. The incident sparked the conversation but was almost incidental to what followed.

There were three commentators in the conversation. The numbering may be inaccurate but the words are pretty accurate.

Commentator 1: "Quite a difference in the laws. Can he walk through a ruck like that? I thought he could if he was from the right side.

Commentator 2: "In a maul of you go straight through it's fine. I was watching it last night [Bulls vs Brumbies] applied. Of course not every referee referees the same way. Was the ball out there?"

Commentator 3: "They had a conference before Christmas – coaches involved – referees and coaches. They're all trying to come to the same arrangement. They're working on it. Hopefully they'll get there before long."

Commentator 1: "Where was that conference for referees, Clarkie? Perhaps Cosa Nui, perhaps Castaway in Fiji, maybe Mauritius. Where di they have that?"

Commentator 3: "I want to say somewhere in South Africa. Can't be certain."

Commentator 1: "They were sitting on a beach sipping cocktails."

Commentator 3: "Referees don't do that. They're into the hard yards. Occasional game of golf apparently.

"But it's great to be in the Southern Hemisphere. At least they invite coaches along to referees' meetings to get their opinion, all moving towards the common good."

People understand the need for commentators to be entertaining but they also need to be informative. This form of entertaining was not informative. In fact it was sending the wrong message – in the mocking tone of it and in fact. Certainly it's not helpful comment. It doesn't do anybody any good.

Let's get into a few facts.

a. A maul is different from a ruck. At a ruck, players are required to be bound. At a maul players need not be bound. They need to be "caught in or bound tot he maul".

b. SANZAR has organised meetings of referees and coaches for years before each Super 10, Super 12 and now Super 14 campaign. The conference was in Sydney. Each country had coaches and referees in attendance. Sydney was chosen as the most convenient venue for people from the three countries.

c. The SANZAR conference for referees and coaches in Sydney followed one organised by the IRB at the Lensbury Club in Teddington, London. Coaches were there. In fact the man contributor to the conference was Eddie Jones who was then the Wallaby coach.

This was not the first such conference involving referees and coaches in London.

d. There are follow-up to conferences of this nature. They take place in the individual countries. First the people involved in representative matches get together. Then in regions there are further meetings.

The purpose is that all – referees and coaches and through the coaches the players – understand what is happening.

e. Neither hemisphere has the advantage over the other in matters refereeing or opportunities for discussion.

Just one other little thing. The top referees and top coaches who attend these conferences are the top of the rugby world, professionals who take their jobs seriously. They really aren't as frivolous as this frivolous conversation suggests.