Law Discussion - Tackle troubles

South Africa's coach Peter de Villiers has complained about the referees, finding their rulings at the tackle incomprehensible.

It may just be that his players are not as used to the law application as they could be. They played a set of ELVs for the Super 14, then pre-ELV laws for the home Tests, then another set of ELVs for the Tri-Nations, then another set of ELVs for the Currie Cup which are the same ELVs which are being used in Europe at present.

So they had a taste of them in the Currie Cup, which started strictly enough but may have become slightly watered down as referees found the new strictness embarrassing.

The same is true of New Zealand in the Air New Zealand Cup while the Australians stopped playing after the Tri-Nations.

In Europe they stepped straight into IRB instructions, though the French, it is alleged, believed in greater laissez-faire than was the case in the Four Home Unions while England were most unyielding in doing what the IRB said. Only Argentina have a lower percentage of tackle penalties than England but then in both the Pumas' matches, the tackle/ruck count was lower than in other matches.

Let's look at some statistics.

Penalties at tackles per team after two matches each:

Australia: 7 + 5 = 12
Argentina: 5 + 3 = 8
Canada: 6 + 7 = 13
England: 7 + 4 = 11
France: 8 + 7 - 15
Ireland: 4 + 5 = 9
Italy: 4 + 10 = 14
New Zealand: 9 + 8 = 17
Pacific Islands: 5 + 5 = 10
South Africa: 12 + 8 = 20
Scotland: 6 + 7 = 13
Wales: 5 + 7 = 12

Total: 154 in 12 matches = 12,8 per match

Even is four of those penalties against the Springboks were unwarranted - which is not the case - they still gave away 16 penalties at the tackle in two matches. That is still high - higher than Australia, Argentina, Canada, England, France, Ireland, Italy, the Pacific Islanders, Scotland and Wales.

Penalties per Team:

Australia: 10 + 8 = 18
Argentina: 7 + 11 = 18
Canada: 9 + 17 = 26
England: 14 + 10 = 24
France: 11 + 9 = 20
Ireland: 6 + 9 = 15
Italy: 8 + 12 = 20
New Zealand: 11 + 14 = 25
Pacific Islands: 9 + 11 = 20
South Africa: 15 + 11 = 26
Scotland: 8 + 10 = 18
Wales: 7 + 10 = 17

Total Number of penalties: 247 = 20,6 per match

Tackle penalties as a %age: 62%

South Africa's tackle %age: 77%
New Zealand's tackle %age: 68%
Australia's tackle %age: 66%

Argentina's tackle %age: 44%
*Canada's tackle %age: 50%
England's tackle %age: 46%
France's tackle %age: 75%
Ireland's tackle %age: 60%
Italy's tackle %age: 70%
Pacific Islanders tackle %age: 50%
Scotland's tackle %age: 72%
Wales's tackle %age: 70%
*low because of the many penalties conceded at the scrum against Wales

South Africa is the most penalised side and has the highest percentage of tackle penalties amongst its penalties.

England seems to have the greatest tackle conformity while laissez-faire does not seem to have benefitted France. But then what about Scotland and Wales where one would expect an outcome similar to England's?

The referees in the Tests are the top referees of the world - a chosen few. There are no better. To suggest that these chosen few professional men are ganged up against the Springboks is absurd. And it's not facing up to the heart of the problem.