Time's up?
There was lots of criticism of the referee in the match between Samoa and South Africa. One of the criticisms concerned time.
The following was written in the Guardian Unlimited as a part of a condemnation of the referee with some sinister implications about his honesty:
“The score should have been 14-7 at the break. The clock was 30 seconds over when Honiss allowed a scrum to be reset and Percy Montgomery scored South Africa’s second try.”
Let’s look at a timetable of sorts:
Time
36.57: Pietersen held up over the Samoan line. Scrum awarded
There is a stoppage for an injury
37.41: The ball is fed into the scrum. South Africa pushes forward and the scrum collapses.
37.57: A reset is ordered
38.15: The ball is fed into the scrum. South Africa pushes forward and the scrum collapses. The referee penalises Samoa
38.21: South Africa taps and charges for the line. The Samoans stop them but are not back the required distance and are penalised./
38.32: South Africa opts for the scrum
38.56: The ball is fed into the scrum. The scrum goes up. The scrum is to be reset.
39.26: The ball is put into the scrum. South Africa shoves forward and the scrum collapses. A reset is ordered.
39.46: The ball is put into the scrum. South Africa shove forward and the scrum collapses.
39.50: The referee penalises Samoa.
39.59: South Africa opt for the scrum
There is some time while Census Johnston puts on a boot.
40.23: The ball is put into the scrum. South Africa shoves forward and the scrum goes up. The referee orders a reset.
41.00: The ball is put into the scrum.
41.17: Montgomery scores a try
At 39.50 the referee penalises Samoa. The match must go on. Even if it had been 41.50 the match is not ended by a penalty.
Instead of a penalty a team may take a scrum.
Law 21.4 PENALTY AND FREE KICK OPTIONS AND REQUIREMENTS
(a) Scrum alternative. A team awarded a penalty or a free kick may choose a scrum instead. They throw the ball in.
That is a way to take a penalty which does not end a 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.
The scrum which was the way the penalty was taken was not completed. It had to be reset. The ball did not come out of the scrum. The scrum was not over.
The criticism of the referee was unwarranted – unfair in other words.
In fact, taking a line through what happened in the awarding of a penalty try against Namibia, one would not have been too out of line to have expected the award of a penalty try against Samoa.
