White Card Tweaked
There have been some alterations to the use of the White Card challenge in the Varsity Cup after a meeting on Sunday afternoon involving the Varsity Cup coaches and André Watson.
The changes are slight, in effect twofold - that the coaches may be in a better position than the captain to see something they would like reviewed and secondly that the review take place only when the ball is dead so that the challenge cannot be used to stop an opponents' attack.
The Reviewed White Card Protocol for Varsity Cup
Experimental law for Varsity Cup 2015
Team Challenge or White Card: (Varsity Cup only)
The Team Coach or Captain can, during a stoppage in play, request the Referee to review a decision they believe to be incorrect OR request him to review a possible infringement that went undetected and required an appropriate sanction.
Process of Team Challenge/Appeal:
The COACH will inform the TMO of the team challenge via radio contact – informing him that he wants to exercise a TEAM CHALLENGE.
The specific infringement that needs reviewing, must be communicated to the TMO with details of the PLACE on the field, the TIME and the PHASE.
Notification to challenge should be done before the start of the next play. For example: if the whistle blows and a scrum is awarded, the team call should have been lodged in order for the officials to review. If the scrum is started with the ball being fed into the scrum no review can take place.
The TMO will inform the referee of the challenge, who will then - at the next stoppage - raise a white card indicating that a team challenge has been made.
The TMO will then review the incident and advise the on field referee accordingly
The CAPTAIN may also exercise the option of a team challenge for Foul Play only.
He needs to inform the Referee that he would like a review of an incident of possible foul play that went undetected by all the match officials.
He will give the usual “TV box” signal and mention “white card” as an indication to the referee of his “Challenge”. He needs to be clear in what he requires the referee to review.
The Captain is to approach the referee when there is a stoppage. Stoppages are restricted to scrums, line-outs, tries being converted and an injury.
If a penalty is awarded and the captain stops the opposition from playing because he shouts “white card” and or indicates, the referee is to deal with the captain as being negative and deliberately stopping play. In this example, the captain is to play on and report the challenge at the next stoppage in play.
The referee will stop time and show a white card. The referee and/or TMO will review the footage.
* Each team (whether Coach or Captain) has 2 CHALLENGES per game.
* This is limited to 1 Challenge per half.
- If the challenge is upheld/successful, then challenging remains intact for that half.
- If the challenge is unsuccessful, the team will have NO further appeals for that half.
- If the challenge is still intact at the end of the first half, it expires and is forfeited as is not transferable to the second half.
Notes
a. The following potential infringements which must be CLEAR AND OBVIOUS are to be referred:
* Knock-on
* Forward pass
* Player in touch
* Offside
* Obstruction
* Tackling a player without the ball
* Foul Play
* Double movement in act of scoring a try.
b. Should the TMO have requested a "review" to the referee during play and a Team Coach also challenges the decision, then this won't be regarded as a Team Challenge.
c. The outcome of the" review" of the team challenge by the TMO and referee is FINAL and stands regardless.
d. Coaches and Captains are requested to be polite and respectful to the Referee/TMO during and after a team challenge. No abuse, swearing or disrespect will be tolerated.
In such cases, teams run the risk of losing their "challenges" for the next match.
e. As this is a new process, should "teething" problems be encountered during the competition, changes may be made by the organisers, to ensure the smooth and fair operation of the team challenge process.