Countdown to Chaos

The new rugby season is getting ever closer, the elite are already involved in pre-season friendlies and for the rest of us its two weeks to go. It’s become a regular pre-season ritual to gather and hear what new law or directives have been issued for the new season. This is what I took away from the meeting and my understanding may well evolve during the season as I work with them and discuss with other refs.
Laws
Its been well flagged that a number of last season’s ELVs have passed into Law, the ones that did not make it were being able to legally pull down a maul (good), those Free Kick sanctions tried in SANZAR (good) and not bothering about numbers in the line-out (bad for refs). There has been some tweaking with the off-side at the scrum, with the defending scrum half now required to be besides the putting-in scrummy or behind the 5m off-side line. Once the ball is in, he can go were he likes as long as its on-side.
IRB Directives
These are generally instruction on how the law are to be interpreted and tighten up on what referees may varyingly judge to material. They generally move the game towards encouraging positive play and fair competition.
The big one this year is dealing with obstruction at the maul, anything other than the ball carrier being at the front as the maul forms will be obstruction. Lineout lifters must be careful how the maul forms when they land the jumper. Kick-offs catchers can’t rely on the binding onto a couple of loitering forwards in front of him. Once the ball is at the back of the maul, the ball carrier must lead the detachment and players must bind on behind him. Its all about fair contest for the ball, letting the oppo have a fair crack at stealing the ball.
The next directive involved the tackle and will generate lots of confusion. The first player arriving at the tackle will be given priority in playing the ball with his hands, even if the ruck forms around him. Last year, I would have cried “hands off, ruck!” now, as long as the player has arrived through the gate or was the tackler and is ON HIS FEET, he can handle the ball. This may come as a surprise to many players who have always played this way but finally the IRB are ‘legalising’ Richie McCaw’s game plan! What is import is intent; is that arriving playing looking to play the ball or just kill it? The latter still gets a penalty. The thoughts on this are this will improve the speed of service of the ball and will generate more space as teams will have to commit more bodies to rucks to win back the ball. In truth, at my level I doubt this will be clean enough to call but it should make a difference to what you scream at the TV.
One final thing, spear-tackles or any thing that involves lifting a player off his feet and dropping him down will be an automatic red card. Just like Rich Brown for the Aussies on Saturday who got, oh yes, a yellow card. Remember folk TV rugby is refereed very differently to your Saturday afternoon game.

International Rugby Board - ELV recommendations

Its looking like sense is going to prevail with regard to which ELVs are taken forwards as full changes in Law.
Quick throw-ins and no gain in ground from 22 kicks are to stay, but maul pull downs and line-out numbers are out.
MOST IMPORTANTLY- the sanction laws (lets make Union as dull as League) are not being put forward (at least that what it looks like) - though there may be further examination of this one.

International Rugby Board - Rugby stakeholders agree ELV recommendations

All those puffed out props and backs recovering from ruffled hair will be glad to know that rolling subs will be allowed in the community game as well as the potentional for U19 scrum variations being used in the adult game (a new point on the discussion board for me)

I have said that my original hostility to change was tempered by the experience of refereeing the changes but the maul pull down and the sanction ELVs were the most danagerous and they look to be dead. Expect Mr O'Neil of the ARU to throw a strop.

RFU Survey

This blog has previously mentioned the proactive involvement of the RFU in establishing attitudes to the ELVs. Whilst I think they came to this late in the game, they, together with the WRU have successfully thwarted the Northern Hemisphere implementation of the Sanction ELV (free kicks for penalties).
Anyway, now we have all had a couple of months with the ELVs they are looking for our opinion once again. RFU Survey. I urge you all to go and have your say.
I thought I would share my answers. We should remember that the tougher stance on sealing off at rucks is not ELVs and no one is asking your view on that.
ELV 1 - Assistant Referee - Assistant Referees to provide additional information to the referee to assist in decision making.
Strongly agree – this formalising what has been done for number years. It is interesting to see the TMO being used to widen his contribution to adjudicate on tries and foul play
ELV 2 – Maul -Remove reference in Law to head and shoulders not to be lower than hips.
Disagree – I take the view that the maul should be held up, body positioning need to support this. Additionally, players going in and down are putting their neck at risk. I don’t see how this sits with the bridging (a bad thing apparently) directive at mauls.
ELV 3 – Maul - A defending team may pull the Maul to the ground.
Strongly disagree – It’s tough to tell if it’s a pull down or a collapse. It removes a skilful, team-work element to the game. Eight blokes onto one sternum is going to hurt and eventually cripple someone. Mr Murdoch and Mr O’Neil don’t think it puts bums on seats but try telling that to The Shed or Welford Rd. If it’s dangerous for U19 then it’s dangerous for all
ELV 4 - Lineout and Throw When a defending player receives the ball outside the 22 metre line and passes, puts or takes the ball back inside the 22 by any means, there no gain in ground
Agree – it’s proved a bit tricky to police with TJs, but it puts more pressure on the defending side and maintains some advantage for the attacking side. That aside, the aerial ping-pong seen in top matches is dull and I hope coaches come up with a more imaginative tactic.
ELV 5 - Lineout and Throw- A quick throw may be thrown in straight or towards the throwing team’s own goal line
Strongly agree- OK, so it speeds up the game and level 12 often needs a few breaks, but it has triggered some great counter-attacking runs. Anything that reduces the number of lines Wales need to complete the better
ELV 6 - Lineout and Throw There is no restriction in the number of players who can participate in the lineout from either side (minimum of 2).
Agree – Perversely, this has decreased the space for the fly-half as the Kiwis have used the additional numbers to launch defence from the lineout, rather than mid-field. From a ref perspective, its one less thing to watch for.
ELV 7 - Lineout and Throw The receiver in a lineout must stand 2 metres back from the lineout.
Does not effect the games



ELV 8 - Lineout and Throw The team not throwing into the lineout MUST have a player in the 5 metre channel who must be 2 metres away from the front of the lineout. This player cannot join the lineout until the ball has left the hands of the player throwing in.
Agree/disagree- I’ve picked this one up once. If the defending team want to leave this channel open its upto them
ELV 9 - Lineout and Throw Lineout players may pre-grip a jumper before the ball is thrown in.
Agree – This has been ignored for years
ELV 10 - Lineout and Throw- The lifting of lineout players is permitted
Agree - ditto
ELV 11 – Scrum - The offside line for a player who is not in the scrum and is not one of the scrum halves is 5 metres behind the hindmost foot of the scrum
Agree – The additional space seems to be used effectively for most teams, but policing it is very difficult without a touch line team. If there is too much nonsense with the front rows then I don’t spend much time watching the back-line. Still, I have picked it up a couple of times.
ELV 12 – Scrum - The defending scrum half must stand next to his opponent when the ball is put into the scrum. Once the ball is in the scrum the scrum halves may then either (1) follow the ball ensuring that they remain behind the ball (2) retreat behind the hindmost foot of their players in the scrum or (3) retreat behind their side's 5 metre offside line, but if they do so they may not come forward again until the scrum is over.
Not affected – Generally, this has needlessly complicated the pre-match team talk
ELV 13 - Posts and Flags around the Field The corner posts, and posts at corner of touch , in goal and dead ball line, are no longer considered to be in touch in goal except when a ball is grounded against the post.
Strongly Agree- At my level, with no TMO, it’s made life much easier.

Sunny, South West London

The rugby season is now in full swing so, what feels like the sunniest Saturday of the year bakes the turf of Motspur Park. This was another Level 11 game and one that amounts to local derby. The referee training from Thursday night was fresh in my mind so focus on the front rows and closing off at the tackle were to be my points of focus in improving my game.
As it turned out the scrums were generally well behaved and proceeded well compared to last week. The home side lacked the of bulk of the visitors but as with the rest of there game, were better organised. They typically managed to step over the ball as it was put in, though it did catch them for a crooked feed once. Two scrumage incidents stood out; KCS had an attaching scrum on the 5m line, there was a tremendous shove as the ball went in and the defending tight –head stood up, the shove looked straight so I awarded the penalty to KCS which they took quickly and scored under the post. Wimbledon protested they had called a man down; nobody looked hurt as the scrum broke up so I was happy not to stop KCS using the advantage. It turns out it wasn’t a front-row and was merely a knock on the leg. It hardly warranted a stoppage so it was a good call; Wimbledon needed to react to the whistle better.
ELVs came into play in the second incident, a strike against the head saw the KCS back line needing to rearrange defensively, they rushed up and took a stand on the old, back-foot line and it was obvious to spot. Strangely, ten minutes later, the strike went the other way and Wimbledon conceeded the same penalty. ELVs played a part in the second try as KCS scored in the corner, the corner flag was clearly taken out as the ball was grounded, and against short lived protests, the try was good.
The tackle area was particularly scrappy, with KCS frequently handling and Wimbledon going off their feet. One incident saw the visitors turned over in the tackle, Wimbledon had no players in the game at the ruck to complete when KCS stepped over and picked up the ball. There was no penalty as there was no contest, KCS had won the ruck and by picking up they were being positive in getting the ball going forward. In making any discussion, referees should always look to reward positive play. I am not convinced Wimbledon saw it that way.
Sadly, there was no de-briefing with the visitors, post match, so I will have to wait for the card to come back. The home side gave me some good comments but at 34-0, they were bound to be pleased. From my own point of view, I was happy with my response to the high level of chat which diminished with action and I felt more confident that I was dealing with the scrum decisively. However, it was a bad afternoon for positioning, with three scrums as the ball carrier ran into me or being on the receiving end of a clearance kick – ouch!

Victory Is Ours!!

When the IRB announced that the Sanction ELV would not only be tried in a single competition, it signalled some hope.

Europe puts IRB 'no penalties' rule into deep freeze - The Independent

If this turns out to be true (there is no word on the IRB website) then the most controverisal aspect of the ELV are dead in the water. The word from New Zealand is that players and referees are having trouble with the phyiscal requirement of playing a faster game. Furthermore, I can not see how the IRB could sanction a split in the Laws on geographic lines, given the consequences of the last time this happened.

So let is raise a glass to the "57 Old Farts" of the RFU for saving our game.

More ELVs

A few weeks ago the question was asked what if captains/coaches requested the game be played under the old Laws

maul elvs

The official answer is that referees are there to referee the game according to the Laws stipulated by the RFU. No debate.

ELV; the Official Training

PA142613
Originally uploaded by Bigdai100

Last night the great and good of the London South West referee region gathered to be ELV’d. The official line is ours is not to question why and we will get on and apply the laws in games. The general view is that aside from the maul pull down, there is no dispute with the ELV as being applied in the Northern Hemisphere. Efforts to speed up the game, such as the quick throw-in were only unwelcome for the extra physical effort needed to control them.
The broader issue of the Sanction ELV (pure evil and the Aussie RL Trojan Horse) wasn’t discussed but I did get the feeling from the RFU officials that HQ is dead-set against these coming into law. Comment from the RFU referee development officer suggested that ‘speeded-up’ game in SANZAR is such that even with 7 replacements, players are suffering serious weight loss and even elite referees are having trouble keeping up with the pace of the game. God help the rest of us!

Notes on the individual Laws; I am assuming readers are broadly familiar with the northern hemisphere ELVs

Assistant Referees

For high level games this will continue as it has been for a number of seasons were TJs have always assisted. This does not mean that the reserve for the Extra-Bs will be doing anything other than marking touch. The referee remains the sole arbiter of Law.

Law 17 – Maul

There will be a clear distinction;
Pulling down a maul – Legal
Collapsing a Maul – Penalty
Players can bring a player down by pulling between the shoulders and waist, but not the collar. Players on the ground can not pull down a maul this will be a penalty. Any action involving taking out a opposing players legs is illegal.
As the maul goes to ground, Referees will encourage the ball to be used; otherwise sides will risk a turn-over

Law 19 – Touch and Line Out

The ball can not be played into the 22 and kicked directly into touch and ground gained. If it bounces 1m in field and then out that is fine. If there is a tackle, ruck, maul or it is touched by any opposition player then ground can be gained just like last season.
If centre of a scrum is outside the 22 and ball comes out inside the 22 then that is played backed.
With line outs, it is all about the middle line, a steal on the 22 is not played back, so kicks directly to touch are OK.

Quick Throws

These can go in any direction, but must cross the 5m as last year. There is no off-side, so the non-throwing side can position themselves anywhere behind the point of touch and 5m in to challenge a receiver of the ball. Usually requirements for a quick throw remain; it must be the same ball and must not touch a non-player. There will be greater focus on the speed of ball release from players tackled into touch. There will be an assumption that the quick throw in on, and that this should not be prevented, sanction will be a penalty 15m in.

Line Outs

Minimum of two players and maximum of 13 in the line; there must be a receiver.
The non-throwing side must have a ‘hooker’ in the 5m channel and they must stand at least 2m from the 5m line.

Law 20 – Scrums

Off-side for numbers 10-15 is 5m back from the hind-most foot of the scrum. At a scrum 5m from the goal line, the goal line remains the off-side line, even if the scrum moves towards it. It was felt that the extra space gives the attacking back-row a large advantage at this range and Referees will be watching for wheels and may reset more often to discourage this.
The scrum half’s off-side line remains the ball, but defending halfs can not drift across more than a meter. If they go around the opposite side to the put-in, then they can not move past the flanker, should they retreat back across the 5m, they can not return.
It’s not an ELV, put an IRB directive on No8 will be enforcing the full bind. They must be fully bound as the rest of the scrum engages and can’t ‘rock in’ to an engagement. Last season this would be not bound penalty, now it is an off-side penalty (not bound- not part of the scrum, inside the 5m)

Corner Flag

These are no longer in touch, unless the ball is grounded against them. Defenders will need to switch on, if the ball hit the post and bounces into in-goal, the ball is live and it is not automatically a 22 drop-out. Similarly, hitting the post and going into touch is now 5m line-out.

I still expect mayhem on the few weeks of the season, most referees expect to be contructively coaching sides, but don't expect a pre-match lecture; they will expect you to know the Laws.

Argies Dumped on again

Maul
Originally uploaded by fabdany

During the World Cup, the Argies (Wales' own colony) and the Georgians demonstrated the power and skill that good mauling can bring. Damn entertaining too, unless you are a Fosters-Soaked Aussie 'Sports' fan that seem to be setting the agenda for rugby union "development".

Springboks rely on legal aid

Having watched the first half of the match the Argies seemed to be competing well with the Boks but with their most devastating weapon neutered, they were never going to win a running game against the power Boks back line.

Having so long denied the Argies a place at the top table, the IRB have unwittingly taken away their favourite toys. Now let us think which other international team uses the rolling maul to devastating effect to bully the oppo?

Further law change !

Its barely 18 months since the current engagement sequence was introduced. Its purpose was to bring front rows closer together and, importantly, take the momentum out of the players on engagement. If I remember it was New Zealand that would come down and crounch and engage in one movement. This move looks to deformalise the pause.

New Zealand to trial further law change - WalesOnline

In fact research (Institute of Sport and Recreation Research New Zealand, Auckland) has shown that the "The decline in scrum-related injury claims is consistent with a beneficial effect of the new scrum law in the first year of its implementation." The change has worked, things can always become safer, but reducing the pause doesn't look a step in the right direction.

Secondly, this is the third set of law changes within 3 years, for gods sake! Has Nu-Labour taken control of the law committee of the IRB!

Maul ELVs

As we head toward the start of season, the most controversial ELV in the NH, seems to be the collapsing of mauls. At grass roots level, if both captains agreed to it, what would consequences of not applying this law? I could see the problem of choosing to ignore a law that was there for players safety, but playing to old laws that a few weeks earlier protected players from what was danagerous seems sensible.

It is a question that is already being asked of me.

Update: Follow the discussion at Rugby Ref.com Forum

http://www.rugbyrefs.com/forums/showthread.php?p=48536#post48536

People that know far more than me on the subject

Aussies treaten to take their toys away

As long as France and the UK maintain a population greater than the combined population of Australia, New Zealand and the rugby playing part of SA, the money, TV and your players will follow the code of the game that is played up North.

O’Neill: game could split in two - Rugby Union, Rugby - The Independent

Betrayed

For many fans and players the 'trial' of the ELVs next season is a betrayal of the game they hold dear. Some of the of more contentious changes have been dropped, but the new laws fundamentally change the game we have played and watched from childhood. The reason is TV money and the driver is Murdoch TV. The powers that be need to understand the power of the consumer; that is us.
I propose that a mass demonstration to the ELV is staged on September 13th, 2008, the 1st or 2nd weekend of grass roots rugby that will be affected. I want, referees, players, spectators, volunteers at all levels to stay away in London, England, Wales, Scotland, Britain, France, Italy; where ever. We want to protect the game as we know it. It has always been a game that has common laws and values from the top to the very bottom. Let us show that is still the case. The money and the power of the IRB exists because we pay our dollar in match fees, tickets prices, Sky subscriptions, bar transactions, etc. Nobody plays, nobody refs, nobody attends a match, nobody watches Sky we all go down the pub and give a big V sign to the IRB and reclaim our game.
Are you with me. Forward this to those you think care.

The battle is lost!

A sad day for props

IRB announces global trial of ELVs

A partial victory with hands in ruck and offside at the tackle thrown out. The major problem comes from the Southern Hemisphere playing a very different game to the North.

I can see trouble ahead.

The meaning of rugby

Some very good analysis from the Independant on the politics of the Law changes

Battle for the soul of the oval ball game

Welsh RU against proposed laws

Lets face, win or lose, Wales deliver a pretty entertaining performance under the old laws.

WRU boss Roger Lewis said: "It's not in the best interests of the game that these laws are introduced en masse."
There a couple than would tidy things up but the package is flawed

BBC SPORT Rugby Union Welsh Welsh RU against proposed laws

Ieuan Evans told Scrum V: "I can imagine Australia's sticky fingers being all over this. The laws look like rugby league by stealth.
And which country dominates rugby l**gue??

Now hopefully, the RFU (and England have more to loose in their "style" under the old laws) will see these ELV kicked in to touch (sic). The money may come from Sky but Sky's rugby income is heavily reliant on the UK.

"Apparently, the ELVs are intended to increase ball-in-play time, but the ball-in-play time in Wales' games in one half alone was around 33 minutes."

Wales v France this year set a new record of over 56% ball in play time, it is rare for Super 14 to be more than 40%.

Referees and ELVs

The London Referee Society is one of the largest and best organised referee organisations in the UK and possibly the world. The Society provides officials for everything from U13 matches through to national leagues. Many professional referees have graduated from its ranks, the most famous being Wayne Barnes (if you don’t know who he is, ask a Kiwi).

Last night at one of our meetings, we where addressed by a senior RFU referee development officer. Discussion turned to the Experimental Law Variations (ELVs), he was at an IRB meeting last week and it seems there is a strong desire by the IRB to trail these at EVERY level of the game and this could be as early as next season. Previously, the IRB has pledged not to change Laws in the two years prior to a world cup, which would not leave much time for analysis before they became permanent. Apparently, the Six Nations are cautious but not yet against the experiment.

More about the ELVs Here

The mood of the refs present was generally hostile. Most agreed that some ELV made sense; corner flags not being in-touch, not being able to kick straight to touch from the 22 and even 5m off-side at scrums. It was the ruck and maul proposals that met with hostility; it was felt that the grass roots of the game (players and spectators) did not want change and had not been engaged in the discussion. The use of free-kicks instead of scrums to re-start play would radically alter the balance of play, and whilst the game would become faster, this would not suit all players (and officials!).

The IRB Playing Charter states with the Object of the Game that “ The wide variation of skills and physical requirements needed for the game mean that there is an opportunity for individuals of every shape, size and ability to participate at all levels”

The lower emphasis of the scrum would lead to a lesser role for the tall and round, and fewer people participating in the game.

My view was the majority of the refs present felt that ELVs are not what the community game needs and Law changes should not be rail-roaded through because the professional game (and the Southern Hemisphere in particular) sees this as the way forward. There are far more people playing in fields up and down the country on Saturday afternoon than playing at the top level who deserve a say, on this and they don’t have voice.

Top Aussie coaches push hybrid rugby code

Many would argue that this has been the Aussie agenda for the senior code for a number of years.

Top coaches push hybrid rugby code - 26 Mar 2008 - NZ Herald

Ruck off, you nancy Aussies

A superb take on the ELVs from the man himself.

Ruck off, you nancy Aussies Jeremy Clarkson - Times Online