Rain, Shine and telling the Time

A great way to kick off on the right foot with your referee is to tell him kick off is at 2pm and tell everyone else it is at 3pm.

Last Saturday was the second game of the season and the second last minute appointment. The home side where a mixed social team and so were the visitors but the average age between the two was about 10 years. The youngsters choose to kick-off and used the slope to finish the game off in the first half. They clearly were able and willing to play the game at pace which caused a couple of questions when they took quick penalties. I am willing to take a sympathetic approach to back-10m with older sides, so long as players keep out of the way. However, standing still or moving in to make a tackle are getting the opposition a second go. The next point is that there is no Law covering a second quick penalty, this falls under Myths of the Game. It is a game management tactic, no penalty can be taken until the referee has given the mark, I won't give the second mark quickly because a succession of tap penalties become very messy and confusing for all involved. Order and not chaos is what make a great game and ensure that all get my full attention. 
One of the lesser used Laws is 11.4 OFFSIDE UNDER THE 10-METRE LAW; Red 10 fields a kick and hoists an up and under, instead of going 30-40m upfield, it goes up and down. Black 12 fields it 5m forward but every player around him is off-side and can't tackle him. 
The scrummage was tricky all afternoon, there was an early penalty for not driving straight, but Black were complaining about Red not taking the hit when I penalised them for driving early. This was a tough one to spot, something the Black prop gave me tips on in the bar later; its all in the foot work. A new prop in the second half caused me huge problems, he simply refused to bind. He started on the tight head and after a reset conceded a penalty then moved to the loose head where the same thing occurred. At this level, I am going to coach and re-set first, make it clear what I want and then penalise. I'm comfortable that was the correct course as the prop in question was returning after many years out. He got the message in the end but for safety's sake penalising someone without correcting their technique isn't going to benefit them. On Saturday in a level 10 league game it will be straight to penalties and potentially a card if he fails to comply.
After avoiding any rain all last season, the weather managed pay-back but despite that, it managed to be a great afternoon of rugby, open, clean and with a great spirit, which fits in with my philosophy.

No more Mr Nice Guy

Ref training last week was shaped by the need to be tough on the causes of crime, even in lower level games. Just because its a Level 11-14 game cheating spoils everyone’s afternoon. The players may be old, slow or just crap, but they know how to flop on the ball, handle in rucks, late tackle and punch without the ref seeing it. The answer is to deal with it, penalise and card if they are not listening.

Saturday’s game had all the above. The home side was a team I had already reffed this season, and it didn’t go well with a high penalty count and I should have shown cards earlier.

The game started badly for the visitors with two shoulder injuries in the opening 15 mins, with only one sub their early promise was soon eliminated. It got worse soon after as a late and borderline spear-tackle saw the tackled player off the field with a stinger in his lower back. The tackler was yellow carded. 13 men and the contest was heavily stacked against them. Still they turned around at half time only 10-7 down thanks to some desperate defending and a superb scrumaging.

The temper on the second half was tense and edgy, there were a few late hits from both sides and the two locks had their own private battle which they managed to keep hidden. The visitor’s open-side had a different view on what was ‘on your feet’ to me and the home side were persistently offside at the tackle area. At the time I seriously thought of binning a number of visitors, but I was conscious of keeping the contest going; 11-12 players would have made the game meaningless. I think the threat kept them on edge but was I being too nice. Looking back, the home side should has lost a player but at the time I was concerned about consistency between my approach to both teams. They eventually lost a player in the dying minutes as the visitors pounded the home try-line for a consolation score.

It was clear that a good deal of hidden punching was going on, and despite my best efforts I couldn’t catch anyone. The lock battle was at the centre of this. This was tough as the home captain was involved, a player that would be best described as Danny Grewcock’s evil twin. He calmed down after I told him he role as team enforcer was incompatible with being captain.

A home win 32-14 and a first season loss for the visitors. I was pleased with containment of the home side compared with our earlier encounter this season. I held the chat and comment more successfully than recently too. I suspect that this would have been much tougher if the visitors had remained at 15 and the scores tighter, but then my pocket would have been a lot busier.

Back on the Park

Following my ankle operation in January, I was finally back in the middle last Saturday. My last game was in December and whilst I missed the worst of the bad weather, it has been a long break. If truth be told, I should have taken a softer and longer pre-return training schedule but a couple of gentle runs and a Level 14 old lags game, that was 30 mins each way to catch the internationals was just the start I needed.
The home side were a hospitable bunch with crate of isotonic drinks in the referee changing room and small crowd sitting outside in the sunshine. The opposition rocked up a few minutes before kick-off with no subs and looked on as the full bench of the home side ran through drills and looked significantly younger than the starting line up.
Black (home) chose to play down hill in the first half and made this count with total territory and possession in the first 20 minutes, however they couldn’t score. A penalty gave the visitors a line-out platform in the oppo 22m and a great move saw the barrelling blue prop twist over- 5-nil against the run of play. On the turn of half time, a quickly taken penalty saw the home side asleep and the visitors claimed a second nicely worked try.
The visitors seemed to find their rhythm in second half, with some good forward pressure, the scrum was dominant and well-behaved. I could have been stricter on in-straight and foot-up but it was working the same for both sides. Although it was a good natured game, 7-8 minutes in a tackle in the home 22 brought about a flurry of punches from the blue centre on black’s hooker. He claimed retaliation on behalf of his put upon colleague – yellow card, I considered red, but it would have been harsh given the general spirit of the game. I didn’t see the hooker punching but I probably should have carded him to be fair; I felt there was no question of his guilt. Blue held on with 14 men and the try-scoring hooker came close once again with a chip and collect on the home 22 ( I hope rest of the front row fined him for that one). Once blue’s centre was back on he caught my attention for a second time as a trotted backwards and failed to see him on all fours until I crashed down over him!
The ankle came through and it was a pleasant re-introduction, there was bit of ‘commentary’ from blue but it stopped with a warning as I pointed out to their captain, if I refereed the game they saw, then their second try would have been a blue scrum.
I’m at the National Schools Seven’s tomorrow, and that will be a sterner test of my fitness.