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We’re steering away from stats on this fine Thursday, to bring you the news that the days of banging your head on the desk about how the maul is policed might be numbered. Maybe.
World Rugby – the artist formerly known as the International Rugby Board – announced on Monday that they had “moved to clarify certain aspects of law and reinforced consistency of application among match officials”.
World Rugby’s Laws Representation Group – they get their own acronym: ‘LRG’ – met in London in April, and looked at aspects of the game in relation to the laws, and how they were and are being policed. Essentially, they met – as they have every four years – to clean things up before the Rugby World Cup in September and October becomes a turgid whistle-fest.
As an aside, Australia’s NRC – and particularly its local Law interpretations and point changes – was referenced throughout this gathering, and in a good way. I’ll have a bit more on this in the next week or so.
On Monday, World Rugby announced the outcome of the LRG’s meeting:
“At a meeting in April, the World Rugby Laws Representation Group (LRG) considered a number of areas of the game where it had been agreed that law amendments were not required but that current law was to be enforced more stringently by referees, assistant referees, and television match officials.
“The areas identified for specific mention were with the laws dealing with foul play (Law 10), the scrum (Law 20), and the maul (Law 17).
“To assist with the explanation of exactly what the LRG has recommended a number of video clips have been compiled and the Rugby World Cup2015 match officials have discussed at length the issues raised by those incidents while agreeing a consistent and accountable course of action.”
LRG Chairman, John Jeffrey of Scotland, said in the statement, that the group “has sought to clarify to players, coaches, media, and spectators exactly what they can expect from referees in these key areas during the [Rugby World Cup] tournament.”
“It was felt that law changes were not necessary in these areas but that referees needed to apply the current law more effectively in some cases.”
What was missing from the statement on Monday was a ‘with effect’ date, but already there has been widespread assumption and reporting within the international rugby media that the more ‘stringent enforcement’ of the specified Laws will take effect immediately.
With the major European competitions now complete, it appears as though the LRG announcement has been timed for the start of the Super Rugby finals series. And this at least makes more sense that coming into effect for Round 16, or the week of the Final.
Regarding Foul Play, the clarifications come specifically around high tackles making contact with the head and neck area (Law 10.4e – Dangerous tackling), and challenging players in the air (Law 10.4i – Tackling the jumper in the air).
The instruction around dangerous tackles is very clear: “Every time the head or the neck is deliberately grabbed or choked, the offending player runs the risk of receiving a yellow or red card. Cleanouts around the neck must be penalised. Match officials should work together to ensure that foul play is strictly penalised and that player welfare is paramount.”
Interesting that leading-shoulder cleanouts didn’t also rate a mention, but essentially, any contact around the head and neck will now be penalised, if it hadn’t been already.
The instruction around challenging players in the air sets out clear guidelines for when play should carry on, for when a penalty only will suffice, and for when yellow and red cards should be issued. These guidelines all make decent sense, and I’d encourage you to check out the explanatory videos.
Regarding the Scrum, I’m very pleased to see that once again – and only roughly 18 months since the last ‘crackdown’ – the straightness of scrum feeds is back under the microscope, and will be enforced as per Law 20.6(d). The explanatory video highlights some terrible scrum feeds that have been allowed this season.
Also, common sense is set to prevail around Law 20.4 (e and f), with the instruction that referees will call ‘use it’ when the ball is available at the no. 8s feet once a scrum becomes stationary. Collapsed scrums fitting this scenario aren’t specifically mentioned in the clarifications, but you would like to think this would also apply.
This brings us onto the clarifications around the maul, with instructions issued on players joining the maul in front of the ball carrier (Law 17.4c), and the requirement that the ‘ripper’ must be properly bound himself (covered by Laws 17.1 and 17.2).
The instruction is to “sanction all players who join in front of the ball carrier,” and the example used in the video includes the ‘changing lanes’ scenario.
I’m not sure the instruction goes far enough though. I’ve mentioned in the past that players this season were operating under the direction that as long as they got a touch – rather than actually bind – on the ball carrier, they could then go forward of the ball.
All teams in the final six use the maul – some more than others, obviously – so will be interesting to observe a), whether these clarifications are used and evident from this weekend and onwards, and b), whether the liberal allowance of only needing to get a touch on the ball-carrier is still kosher.
Likewise, it will be interesting to watch the policing of the ‘ripper’ being bound. Often the lineout will come down and become a maul so quickly, so it might not always be possible to tell if the ripper was properly bound to the maul before the ball is moved backwards.
The World Rugby “Enforcement of Current Law” explanations, including a number of helpful videos around the specific considerations can be found here.
Referees have a fair bit on their plate already, so it will be interesting to see if these changes have any immediate effect at all. Seems like a case of staying tuned.