Replacements in history

David Perry of England may well have hastened a change in the laws by getting injured and ending his career After all the International Rugby Board was still refusing to allow replacements over forty years after they were first proposed. Laws have not always changed as quickly as they are doing now!

In 1892 it was written down that the game “should be played with 15 players”.

In 1924 New Zealand proposed that “injured players may be replaced with the consent of the opposing captain.”  It was turned down on the grounds that it put pressure on captains, was liable to abuse, entailed having spare players who could be playing elsewhere and gave the home side an advantage.

In 1926 New South Wales repeated the suggestion which was again turned down.

In 1932 New Zealand asked for a dispensation to replace injured players. It was turned down. In 1933 they asked again, stating that they had been doing it for 40 years.

There were no further replacements in the remaining matches of the tour. Big Brother send a wire?

In 1947 Oxford proposed that “should a player be knocked out during the first 15 minutes of a game and unable to continue, a substitute be allowed to take his place, provided he is on the field before half-time”. That was turned down. New South Wales and New Zealand again asked that teams have the right to replace injured players and again it was rejected.

In 1946 Australia toured New Zealand. They played 12 matches. In seven of the 12 replacements were used. In the first Test at Carisbrook, Australia replaced two players, New Zealand one. Jack McRae came into the front row in the place of Harry Frazer at half time. For Australia teenaged Max Howell came on for teenaged Trevor Allen at centre and Eric Freeman came on for Eric Tweedale. Freeman came on in the first half and so may well be the first player replacement used in a Test match 22 years before Mike Gibson.

In 1952 Australia and New Zealand again proposed replacements and again they were rejected.

In 1958 France toured South Africa. Their third match was against a combined side chosen from Eastern Transvaal, Natal and Transvaal, captained by the great Peter Taylor of Natal, one of the unluckiest men not to have played for South Africa. In the 25th minute of the first half Michel Vannier, the French fullback, tried to kick the ball away from Robert Twigge as Twigge scored a try. Down Vannier went in agony. It was an unless moment. Taylor  went to the French captain Jean Barthe and suggested a replacement.  The referee was Dr Strasheim of the Northern Transvaal. Strasheim immediately agreed and France found Roger Martine sitting on the stand smoking a cigarette  He agreed, though, according to Denis Lalanne, the writer travelling with the team,  “Martine is not interested in great acts of self-sacrifice; he believes you can play football without possession the soul of a hero”. But he put his cigarette out and went out in France’s cause.

In 1960 there was a  concession of a kind in that replacements would be allowed in “recognised trial matches”.

This is where the Perry incident may well have played a part.

In February 1966, before replacements were allowed Perry was playing for England against France. He hurt his knee. It was a bad injury. But he bravely soldiered on with the help of a painkiller. The painkiller masked the damage and Perry ground down part of his leg so that he went through life with one peg shorter than the other, his rugby career obviously over.

In 1967 New Zealand proposed the use of replacements for players injured in games “in which national representative teams” were playing. again it was rejected, but all was not lost.

In 1968 Australia again proposed replacements and this time it was carried, only Scotland dissenting.

Law 12, as Law 3 then was, was rewritten to read:

A match shall be played by not more than fifteen players in each team. No replacements shall be allowed except:

(a) in recognised trial matches when replacements are allowed as determined by the Unions having jurisdiction over the match, and

(b) in matches in which a national representative team is playing, when replacements are allowed subject to the following conditions –

(i) not more than two players in each team may be replaced.
(iii) a player may be replaced only when, in the opinion of a medical practitioner, the player is so injured that he should not continue playing in the match,
(iii) a player who has been replaced must not resume playing in the match.

The law soon had practical expression. The Lions played the Springboks in the first Test in Pretoria and Jan Ellis tackled Barry John, who broke a collarbone. In his place Mike Gibson came on, the first officially recognised replacement in a Test match following the change in the laws to allow a replacement for injury.

In 1972 replacements were permitted in all international matches at every grade. Gradually it would expand to all rugby. and could be manipulated.

In 1990 the number of replacements was up to three. In 1992 the number of replacements was increased to four. Then they went up to six and then to seven with specifications about front row replacements. Temporary replacements (1996) came in as HIV-Aids became a worry. In 1996 tactical replacements were introduced and the jargon changed. A replacement took the place of an injured player while a substitute came on for tactical reasons.

That is all for international matches. For other matches the union under whose jurisdiction the match is being played determines what replacing of players is allowed. (In 1990 this allowed for the replacement of six players.) Most follow international norms

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The Law

It used to be a few lines.

In 1936 it read: A match shall be played by not more than fifteen players in each team. Any objection by either team in connection with this Law may be made at any time, but it shall not affect any score previously obtained.

Now, in the post-Perry era, it reads:

LAW 3. THE NUMBER OF PLAYERS AND THE REPLACEMENT OF PLAYERS

Number of Players in a Team

(1) A Team shall comprise:
(a) no more than fifteen players on the playing area
(b) a number of players for replacement / substitution as authorised by the Laws of the Game.

(2) When a Union authorises matches to be played with fewer than fifteen players per team, the Laws of the Game shall apply except that there will be no fewer than three players per team in the scrummage at all times.

Note:- (i) Seven-a-Side games are covered by the standard set of variations adopted for this type of game.

(3) Any objection by either team as regards the number of players in a team may be made to the referee at any time but objections shall not affect any score previously obtained.

Nomination of players for replacement / substitution.

(4) For International matches a Union may nominate up to seven replacements/substitutes.

For other matches the number of replacements / substitutes is the responsibility of the Union having jurisdiction over the match provided they otherwise comply with the Laws of the Game.

Nominated players and replacements / substitutes of a team.

(5) A team must include suitably trained / experienced players as follows:
(a) if a team nominates 16, 17 or 18 players it must have at least four players who can play in front row positions;
(b) if a team nominates 19, 20, 21 or 22 players, it must have at least five players who can play in front row positions.

UNDER 19 VARIATION: Add a new Section 13
5 (c) if a team nominates 22 players, it must have at least six players who can play in the front row and there must be replacement cover for the loose head prop, hooker and tight head prop;
(d) if a team nominates more than 22 players it must have six players who can play in the front row in order that there is replacement cover for the loose head prop, hooker and tight head prop and there must be three players who can play in lock positions.

Injured Player and his Replacement

(6) An injured player should stop playing and be replaced as follows:

(a) On the account of a bleeding or open wound the player must leave the playing area until such time as the bleeding is controlled and the wound is covered or dressed; the replacement of the player is temporary but, if he is unable to resume playing, the replacement becomes permanent.

(b) On the account of any other type of injury; if the referee is advised by a doctor or other medically trained person or for any other reason considers that a player is so injured that it would be harmful for him to continue playing, the referee shall require the player to leave the playing area. For this purpose the referee may also require a player to leave the field to be examined medically.

(7) An injured player who has been permanently replaced must NOT resume playing.

(8) The replacement of an injured player may be made on the following advice:

(a) in matches in which a national representative team is playing, by a medical practitioner only.

(b) in other matches, by a medically trained person, or if a medically trained person is not present, by a request from the team’s captain to the referee.

(9) The replacement of an injured player shall be made only when the ball is dead and with the permission of the referee. The referee should not permit a player to resume until the ball is dead.

Substituted Players

(10) Up to two substitutes of front row players and up to five substitutes of the other players may be made for any reason only when the ball is dead and with the permission of the referee.

(11) Players who have been substituted may not re-enter the match even to replace an injured player except in the case of a player having a bleeding or open wound. or for an injured front row player if no other suitably trained replacement is available.

(12) In the event of a front row forward being ordered off, the referee, in the interests of safety, will confer with the captain of his team to determine whether another player is suitably trained / experienced to take his position; if not the captain shall nominate one other forward to leave the playing area and the referee will permit a substitute front row forward to replace him. This may take place immediately or after another player has been tried in the position.

When there is no other front row forward available due to a sequence of players ordered off or injured of both, then the game will continue with non-contestable scrummages which are the same as normal scrummages except that:
* there is no contest for the ball
* the team putting in the ball must win it
* neither team is permitted to push
* the formation of both teams must be 3-4-1
* if one team is one player short, then its scrummage must be in a 3-4 formation
* if one team is two players short, then its scrummage must be in a 3-2-1 formation
* if one team is three players short, then its scrummage must be in a 3-2 formation.

(13) Players who have been substituted may replace an injured player.