Stop cheating players in rugby by suspending offenders

 

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I am unaware if a system such as this has been discussed on The Roar but I propose a system of suspension for cheating players rather than simply penalising them for repeat infringements.

Firstly, refereeing rugby is hard. There are so many things going on, and so quickly, that a referee simply can’t observe everything.

Unfortunately because of this, it’s a primordial soup for cheating. Players are encouraged to find the line of the referee and play a little past that. Of course players would try to do this, and typically chances are you won’t get caught.

Now, I’ve seen some bad refereeing, as everyone has, even at the international level. Some referees simply don’t seem to understand the flow of the game or understand scrums, or they entirely miss offsides.

But I don’t blame referees entirely for this, given the reasons previously stated.

I propose a system of suspension for cheating players. Obviously, it would need a trial and something like Super 14/15 would be ideal (international standard players in a league format).

The system is as follows:

a. games to be video reviewed afterwards by another referee than the one who reffed the match
b. at a ruck or other formation, the assessor is looking for the first infringement to take place (target on the tackler rolling away first, then the ball released, then arriving players staying on their feet)
c. ignore the infringement if the refereeing had spotted it and awarded a penalty, then:
d. 1 point is issued for each infringement, and maybe 3 in the red zone; if a player reaches 10 points for a game they are suspended for one match (I would probably grace them with a warning when this system is first introduced)
e. The assessor publicly expresses what is wrong with a player’s practice so that everyone can learn what is required.

This is just a thought, as maybe we can clean up the breakdown and scrums with a system like this. I would love to hear what you think.

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