In the second half of the Auckland Test, the Wallabies hoofed the ball downfield close to the far touch line when Kieran Reid tried to field the kick. He made a meal of it and the referee blew his whistle immediately, awarding the Wallabies a scrum feed for the knock on.
Firstly, from my position in the lounge room it appeared to be no knock on. The ball had been kicked a long way. The refs were a long way in front of Read.
It is unrealistic to expect that they could be in a position to see.
But if they could not see properly, how could the referee rule a knock on other than by suspicion? Perhaps he would have been better to let it go.
Damned if he does and damned if he doesn’t.
But the next bit wasn’t hard. He blew his whistle straight away and gave the Wallabies the scrum. Why did he not play advantage?
All of Read’s team mates were in front of him. To get back in support they had to run to him and then join the ensuing ruck/maul from behind him. All the Wallabies had to do was charge forward looking for the ball. Momentum favoured the Wallabies.
Maybe he might have attempted to kick to touch, fluffed it and Australia would have had the ball on a platter, with the All Blacks scrambling to get back to defend.
All sorts of things might have happened.
In that situation, there was a fair chance the Wallabies could have obtained an advantage.
As a general rule, if the offender has all of his team mates and the opposition in front of him, play should be let go to see who gains the advantage.
In close matches, the little things count.
Wally James
Roar Guru
mitzter Have a read of the law book old chap. That is neither what the law says nor how it is applied in practice. I have seen Rugby League reffed that way but its advantage law is completely different to Rugby's Cheers Wally
Jerry G
Guest
I didn't even think it was a knock on (though haven't checked a replay) - it looked to me like one of those ones where the ball goes slightly back, but as the player is running backwards it looks as if the ball went forward.
JohnB
Guest
Mitzter, I don't think it's as hard and fast as that. If a player knocks on, recovers and is immediately tackled, such that there's a real possibility of a turnover, surely it's appropriate to hold off blowing the whistle to see if an advantage accrues? Incidentally, I think you pounce on the ball to stop the other mob getting it, not to try to stop play.
Spiro Zavos
Expert
This is correct. I do think it was a knock-on, too. The ball went forward from Read's hands and then bounced back.
mitzter
Guest
As soon as player recovers his own knock on there is no advantage and the whistle is blown, that is why players are always told to pounce on the ball after a knock-on so that play doesn't continue