Law Discussion: 2010 starts

It's the new year in the frozen north and the sweltering south. There is much celebrating and in the north there is also some rugby, and so some incidents to discuss. The incidents are from two matches in England's Premiership - Sale Sharks against Harlequins in Manchester and London Wasps against Newcastle Falcons. But first there is a matter of balls.

1. Balls

On Wednesday, Bayonne played Racing-Mètro in Bayonne in the French Top 14. The next day Toulouse, due to travel to Bayonne on Sunday, objected to the balls being used by Bayonne in its matches. It was the make of ball that was in contention.

Law 2 deals with the ball. It does not, obviously, talk about make of ball. But the regulations for the Top 14 stipulate the Gilbert ball as the official ball. But the Ligue Nationale de Rugby, organisers of professional rugby in France, allows the use, in exceptional circumstances, of the balls used in European Cup Rugby and the official ball for those competitions is the Adidas ball. Those were the balls used when Bayonne played London Wasps in Bayonne on 15 December.

the exceptional circumstances were that Bayonne could not get Gilbert balls from the supplier. Bayonne had last needed to provide Gilbert balls for a match on 28 November. When Toulouse complained, because make of ball affects goal-kicking, the exceptional circumstances still prevailed and the LNR allowed Bayonne to use the Adidas balls again.

For a match the home side must provide not one but eight balls for the referee to test before the match.

Professional rugby and its money-making contracts produce problems not covered in the Laws of the Game!

Law 2 deals with balls.

2.1 SHAPE
The ball must be oval and made of four panels.

2.2 DIMENSIONS
Length in line 280 - 300 millimetres
Circumference (end to end) 740 - 770 millimetres
Circumference (in width) 580 - 620 millimetres

2.3 MATERIALS
Leather or suitable synthetic material. It may be treated to make it water resistant and
easier to grip.
280- 300 mm
740-770 mm
580- 620 mm

2.4 WEIGHT
410 - 460 grams

2.5 AIR PRESSURE AT THE START OF PLAY
65.71-68.75 kilopascals, or 0.67-0.70 kilograms per square centimetre, or 9.5-10.0 lbs per
square inch.

2.6 SPARE BALLS
Spare balls may be available during a match, but a team must not gain or attempt to gain
an unfair advantage by using them or changing them.

2.7 SMALLER BALLS
Balls of different sizes may be used for matches between young players.

2. Sharp obstruction

Harlequins have a line-out five metres from the Sale Sharks line. They throw to James Percival, standing second from the front of the line-out. Percival catches cleanly and comes down with the ball. As he does so John Andress, the Harlequins prop charges ahead and into Sale's Sisa Koyamaibole. Percival releases the ball to scrumhalf Danny Care you follows in Andress's wake.

The referee penalises Harlequins.

Right?

Certainly.

3. Shoulder in the back

Danny Care of Harlequins chips for Tom Williams on the left wing. Williams fails to catch the ball but knocks it backwards into the field of play from where it rolls round into touch. After Williams has done so, Mark Cueto of Sale charges into Williams's back and send him flying.

Penalty? One is certainly possible for a shoulder charge as well as for playing a man without the ball. It would have been a penalty even if Williams had had the ball.

If a penalty where?

Where Williams was charged or where the ball went into touch?

It would be where Williams was charged, roughly less than a metre in from touch. But if it is regarded as a late charge, then the optional penalty would have been 15 metres in from touch.

4. Jumped into it

Harlequins are on the attack, five metres or so from the Sale line. Nick Evans passes to George Lowe, who is cutting back. Lowe jumps for the ball and his jump brings him into collision with Sale flank David Seymour who is on the ground. Lowe crashes to ground.

The referee lets play go on. Queried he says: "He jumped into it."

That is clearly the case and the referee was right.

5. Ins and outs

Jimmy Gopperth of Newcastle Falcons kicks a penalty kick for the touch-line on his left. Tom Varndell of Wasps jumps to knock the ball back into the field of play. Varndell leaps and just after the ball has crossed the plane of touch he knocks the ball back into the field of play. Varndell then lands in touch.

The assistant referee raises his flag to indicate touch and awards the line-out to the Falcons.

Right?

Firstly, a player in touch may knock the ball back into the field of play provided that he does not hold it and provided that it has not crossed the plane of touch.

When Varndell started his jump he was in touch. When he ended it, he was in touch. He was in touch. The ball crossed the plane of touch. The ball was in touch.

Secondly, it was a penalty kick and so the line-out belonged to the kicking side.

So the assistant referee was right, despite some vocal objections from the home fans.

Law 19 DEFINITIONS

If a player jumps and catches the ball, both feet must land in the playing area otherwise the ball is in touch or touch-in-goal.
A player in touch may kick or knock the ball, but not hold it, provided it has not crossed the plane of the touchline. The plane of the touchline is the vertical space rising immediately above the touchline.

Varndell did not catch the ball, which means that his landing was not the real issue. The second definition is relevant.

6. Advantage

Advantage is the referee's decision and so always right. But there was one when the Wasps played the Falcons that bears thinking about.

At a tackle, the referee signalled a penalty to Wasps. Play went on through many phases but the defences were always set and the Wasps made no headway, nor did they ever look like making headway.

The referee called: Advantage over. The commentator suggested that that was fair because play had "gone on long enough".

Law 8 8.1 ADVANTAGE IN PRACTICE
(a) The referee is sole judge of whether or not a team has gained an advantage. The referee has wide discretion when making decisions.
(b) Advantage can be either territorial or tactical.
(c) Territorial advantage means a gain in ground.
(d) Tactical advantage means freedom for the non-offending team to play the ball as they wish.

Long enough is not a criterion.

The advantange should be territorial, which it was not. Wasps could play with the ball but not as they would have liked because it did not bring them any closer to scoring points.

7. The arrival of the tee

Who tells the referee that a penalty kick will be taken at goal?

Late in the match Wasps get a penalty kick and debate whether to kick at goal or go for touch. Danny Cipriani is about to kick for touch when the referee blows up and tells him to kick at goal. "The tee is down; you have to kick."

That would suggest that who ever the tee-bearer is decides that the kick will be directed at goal.

That's unusual.

Law 21.5 SCORING A GOAL FROM A PENALTY KICK
(a) A penalty goal can be scored from a penalty kick.
(b) If the kicker indicates to the referee the intention to kick at goal, the kicker must kick at goal. Once the kicker has made the intention clear, there can be no change of the intention.
The referee may enquire of the kicker as to the intention.
(c) If the kicker indicates to the referee the intent to kick at goal, the opposing team must stand still with their hands by their sides from the time the kicker starts to approach to kick until the ball is kicked.

The kicker indicates. It seems that people not on the field can pull strings that used to belong to the players.

But then what about this?

21.4 PENALTY AND FREE KICK OPTIONS AND REQUIREMENTS
(b) No delay. If a kicker indicates to the referee the intention to kick a penalty kick at goal, the kick must be taken within one minute from the time the player indicates the intention to kick at goal. The intention to kick is signalled by the arrival of the kicking tee or sand, or when the player makes a mark on the ground. The player must complete the kick within one
minute even if the ball rolls over and has to be placed again. If the one minute is exceeded, the kick is disallowed, a scrum is ordered at the place of the mark and the opponents throw in the ball. For any other type of kick, the kick must be taken without undue delay.

"The intention to kick is signalled by the arrival of the kicking tee or sand, or when the player makes a mark on the ground."

The tee arrived but not at the kicker's behest. Surely this proviso is merely to indicate the start of the minute not the player's intention.

It may well have been better if the referee had asked Cipriani what he intended doing.

8. Scrum watch

The Manchester weather was not pleasant - icy cold with snow and then, in the second half, sleet. It is the sort of weather used and excuse for falling scrums.

In this match there were 20 scrums of which four collapsed. There were also two penalties and three free kicks. By the figures for some matches this is few indeed - weather notwithstanding.

In fact it was a match with lots of creativity and movement, largely because of quick ball from tackles. When the ball was not quick, the referee did something about it. Of the 20 penalties in the match, 12 were for tackle infringements. The referee cleaned up the tackle.

It was a well refereed match.

It is harder to judge the scrums in the match between the Wasps and the Falcons because the Falcons scrum was rampantly dominant until changes were made to the front rows. But even when one scrum is so much stronger it is still necessary for them to scrum legally - at the right angles and with the right binding.

In that match there were 22 scrums: 9 resets, 9 collapses, five penalties and 2 free kicks.