Laws: tackle watch

Every now and again, usually before some important, high-profile tournament, the is talk about changing laws or emphasising some application of laws. This year, just when the Super 14 gets under way it is the Big Four, especially the tackle, especially what the tackler gets up to.

The tackle is the biggest of the Big Four (tackle, scrum, offside and maul/obstruction) in terms of penalties conceded.  The tackle is seen as the reason why play is being slowed down, and referees have been ordered to clean it up.

They are to look above all at the tackler. They are to apply the law that when a player is tackled the person tackling him must release him (and the ball). There is to be a moment when contact between the two players is broken. There has been a lot of excitement about this.

Ed Morrison of England took his Elite Referees to the 12 Guinness Premiership clubs to explain it. In South Africa courses for referees have all laid emphasis on this aspect of the tackle - getting the tackler out of the way and allowing the tackled player a chance to play.

There have been three warm-up matches at Newlands involving the Stormers, the Sharks and the Western Force of Australia.  The penalty counts have been high.

Penalties

Stormers vs Western Force: 29 penalties - 14 at the tackle
Sharks vs Western Force: 31 penalties - 15 at the tackle
Stormers vs Sharks: 32 penalties - 15 at the tackle

Totals: 92 penalties - 44 at the tackle.
Averages for three matches: 31 penalties, 15 at tackles, just under 50%.

When Morrison took his referees to clubs, they found a significant reduction in penalties for holding in the tackle. Before, it seemed, the tackler just held on, not allowing the tackled player to release, and so "won" a penalty. In the three warm-up matches at Newlands only two of the 44 tackle penalties were for holding on.

It is obvious in those three matches that there is quick ball from tackles. Quicker ball means less kicking.

More penalties do not necessarily mean less fun.

Here are some stats from five Heineken Cup matches the week before.

Munster vs Northampton Saints: 19 penalties - 11 at the tackle, 2 at the tackle
Edinburgh vs Stade Français: 15 penalties - 8 at the tackle, 1 for holding
London Irish vs Leinster: 15 penalties - 7 at the tackle
Sale Sharks vs Toulouse: 20 penalties - 12 at the tackle, 4 for holding

Totals: 61 penalties - 38 at the tackle

Averages for 5 matches: 12 penalties, 7,5 at tackles, 62%.

Tries

Are tries related to this or to the playing conditions? Hard to tell, but these are the figures:

Munster vs Northampton Saints: 0
Edinburgh vs Stade Français: 1
London Irish vs Leinster: 2
Sale Sharks vs Toulouse: 2

Total: 5

Average: 1 try per match

Stormers vs Western Force: 9
Sharks vs Western Force: 4
Stormers vs Sharks: 4

Total: 17

Average: 6 tries per match.

Did more penalties produce more tries? What about the old accusation levelled at a referee: "He blew the game to death"? Perhaps, just perhaps, he is blowing life into the game.

What about the accusation that it will encourage the ball-carrier to charge mindlessly into the opposition, knowing he will get his ball? There is fair amount of that in rugby anyway, but the evidence of the three Newlands matches suggests than in fact the change has encourage counter-rucking and has produced more turnovers, which means less predictably. After all the tackling player is likely to be higher off the ground than before and so arriving players are likely to drive in higher.

Releasing the tackler is not new law, by the way - not by more than a century.