Refereeing the breakdown
At the courses for the National Panel of South African referees and for the Provincial panel with the top women referees, the three main topics of discussion were the breakdown, the line-out and the scrum.
We shall give some of the pointers from these discussions which were lively and led by André Watson and Tappe Henning with clips to illustrate each point.
The breakdown is for rugby football both agony and ecstasy. It is the phase of the game that is hardest to referee and creates the most penalties. It is also the phase which produces the continuity that is such an exciting feature of the game.
A famous priest/coach at Blackrock College once said: “After the grace of God the most important thing in life is quick ball from a ruck.”
The course dealt the basics but also with calling the ruck, the low clean-out and taking space.
Two principles apply to all refereeing, but especially getting possession:
1. the fair contest.
2. The reason for sanctions should be clear and obvious.
The basics of refereeing the tackle concerned:
* Tackler
* Ball-carrier
* Arriving players
When it came to offences the sequence of offence could vary and it was important to deal with the first offence.
* The tackler was required to release the tackled player and troll away immediately. He could roll sideways or towards his own goal-line.
* The ball carrier was to play the ball immediately
* Arriving players must be on their feet and come through the gate.
If all is not right the referee, the referee should manage by communication and/or sanction.
Communication should be brief, to the point, and said once: “Roll away” or “Leave it.”
If the referee sees an infringement he allows advantage or sanctions.
In refereeing the tackle, the referee should let the players play the game. The players love the contest. If the players are on their feet, the referee should let them play on. Don’t referee the contest out of the breakdown.
This means that the referee should not be in a hurry to call Ruck and he should not call ruck at all unless a ruck has clearly been formed.
All the four elements must be there for a ruck – at least one player from each side in physical contact over the ball which is on the ground.
Once the referee has called ruck, much of the contest ends as players may no longer use their hands and offside lines come into play. The ruck is more demanding of the referee as he has to look for more things. In addition defending players fan out defence, which creates more tackles for the referee to deal with.
Sealing-off
This is going off the feet and over the ball and staying there to deny the opposition to contest.
Symptoms: the body position (head down and bum up) and making the ball invisible.
Sometimes this is done in pairs. A team-mate cleaves to the ball-carrier. He is sometimes refereed to as the hammer. They both go to ground, the hammer on top of the ball-carrier and denying the opposition an chance to get to the ball. The hammer must roll away immediately they go to ground.
This should be watched especially late in the match when the team slightly ahead seeks to “run down the clock”. This often happens that the ball-carrier, having grabbed the ball at a tackle, then immediately goes to ground with the hammer with him. For the ball-carrier to go immediately to ground is already an offence.
Low clean-out
A low clean-out occurs when there is a tackle and the ball-carriers team-mate arrives to shift the tackler away from the ball. Of necessity the tackler is low to the ground. The ball-carrier’s team-mate is allowed to remove the tackler provided that he does not infringe.
The low clean-out can be legal.
* If the cleaner is low but not going in head-first, let play go on.
* If the cleaner rolls away to leave the opposition free to contest/get possession, let play go on.
* If the cleaner’s action makes the ball available (visible), let play go on.
If he uses a sharp shoulder with an intention to drive into an opponent to hurt the opponent, penalise him.
It is important for the referee to distinguish between going off the feet and a low clean-out.
(There was an example of incorrect management of a low clean-out in the Scotland-South Africa match in November when Mike Blair tackled JP Petersen and Schalk Burger came into drive Blair away. Burger’s body is parallel to the ground and his head up. He gets to the end of his action and does not impede the defenders from getting to the ball. His action made the ball immediately available. It was an example of an excellent clean-out and play could have gone on.)
Taking space
Players – usually the ball-carrier’s team-mates – should be allowed to step through the tackle to protect the ball provided that they stay on their feet and do so near to (within a metre of) the ball. If such players go off their feet, they must move.
They are allowed to repel opponents who try to get to the ball.
Sanctions
In the Super 14 there will be free kicks where in the rest of rugby there will be penalties.
Sometimes in Super 14 free kicks graduate to penalties.
The sequence of events for tackle infringements would be free kick, then penalty and a team warning, then penalty and a yellow card.
The warning must be to a team for it to produce further action,. If a team is warned, that warning does not apply to their opponents.
Referees are encouraged to set tackle standards early. Coaches want to be “hit” early when there is still time to put things right, not at the end of a match.
Cynical Offence
The cynical offence should always be penalised, regardless of when it occurs. It is not dependent on a warning to a team.
Cynical defined: Any action by a player which denies the ball-carrying team a definite opportunity to use the ball as they want in an attacking context.
A cynical offence warrants a yellow card.
