With rugby attempting to become more global, there are some aspects to the game that, in my view, need to be looked at. One of those areas, and I certainly don’t want to make it any more complicated than it needs to be, is the area of awarding a penalty.
At the moment, it’s a bit of a lottery, and there is no hard and fast rule when it comes to repeated infringements.
In some matches, the same player may be penalised three or four times before they are at least warned, and in other matches, it might be only a couple of times and they are yellow carded.
There is no real consistency in this area, and it confuses the players and crowd alike.
Is it possible to introduce a system similar to that used in Basketball, with personal and team fouls? If the same player is penalised three or more times, for example, they are then yellow carded?
Obviously ,it would depend on the severity (referees can use their discretion) – so if it was a dangerous tackle then they may be yellow carded instantly, but if it was for repeated infringements (the number agreed upon by lawmakers) by the same player, it would be an automatic yellow card.
If there were ‘x’ number of penalties by the team, then a ‘team’ foul would come into play.
It wouldn’t encourage players to foul, because they would still get penalised, but at least they would know where they stand. If they had ‘x’ number of penalites to their name, they would know where they stood, and be reluctant to penalise further.
This system works well in Basketball and has done for many years.
Why not rugby?
Nathan Smith
Guest
I was thinking the whole game. The reason being is that referee often warns players early in the match and if they don't infringe for a period of time they are given grace. What I am suggesting is that the fouls/penalties stay credited regardless of how much time has lapsed. If the total number of personal fouls/penalties reaches a certain number ie 10 for example then a player, chosen by the offending team, is yellow carded (a player can still be yellow carded if their personal fouls/penalties reaches a certain number)..Then every 5 fouls/penalties incurred by the team thereafter for example, means another player is yellow carded.
ohtani's jacket
Guest
The thing is that in basketball team fouls are the total number of personal fouls a team is permitted in a quarter after which all personal fouls become shooting fouls. How would you time it in rugby? A quarter? The whole game? Does the team foul count reset to zero after the yellow card?
Nathan Smith
Guest
Obviously in Basketball, team fouls are in the form of 'free throws' ie fouls are potentially converted into points. I think individuals in a team should have personal fouls against their name and yellow carded when it reaches a predetermined number set by lawmakers. The 'team' would be penalised when the total number of penalties reached a predetermined number. There are a number of options available but 1 example could be that you yellow card a player (the player chosen by the offending team) ie 10 team fouls/penalties equals 1 player yellow carded and every 5 fouls/penalties thereafter results in another player yellow carded.
Nathan Smith
Guest
That's my point. If the same player is penalised 2 or 3 times and the referee issues a warning 'that the next person that offends maybe yellow carded' is not fair on the next person that infringes ie they may offend once and get yellow carded. The only other time that happens is when it's considered dangerous or foul play. I appreciate that rugby is a team game but if the same player infringes/is penalised ‘x’ amount of times, regardless of minutes lapsed, they should be automatically yellow carded in my opinion.
Nathan Smith
Guest
Appreciate your comments. There needs to be some sort of rule that applys here. What if the same player is penalised 3 times at the breakdown and is then warned 'if it happens again someone may go to the bin.' Then a different player is penalised shortly after and gets yellow carded. Why is that fair? The player that was penalised 3 times stays on the field and the player that offends once is yellow carded. This actually happened on the weekend for the Crusaders. After repeated infringements by various players, Kerian Read offended once and was yellow carded. The only other time you offend once and get yellow carded is when it's considered dangerous or foul play which Read's offence was neither. I appreciate that rugby is a team game but if the same player infringes 'x' amount of times, regardless of minutes lapsed, they should be automatically yellow carded in my opinion.
ohtani's jacket
Guest
The system in basketball is completely different from what it would be in rugby. What happens when a side gets a team foul?
Jason
Guest
Because the nature of the infringements may be vastly different - that's why.
Apelu Tielu
Guest
The rule of thumb in repeated infringements, is three repeats and action can be taken. But referees are not very inclined to implement it. So I like to see it properly formalised as you have suggested. That way, there is no lottery. How many times have we heard the ref offering a warning, and then never actually enforcing it? Following the basketball system will encourage fair and consistent rulings.