November Tests, Week 3 - incidents

Including chirping

Again the Six Nations' teams were in ardent action with the roof closed in Cardiff and the rain pouring down in Dublin. Again, mercifully, there was nothing controversial in the refereeing.

The silly match was in Dublin, perhaps rain-induced. There was an old-fashioned flare-up, from which the referee seemed to extract those most guilty and sent them to the sin bin for ten minutes.

We have already given some statistics from the weekend (click here) and had a look at scrum resets (click here). Now we shall look at a few incidents to keep our laws tuned.

1. Knee jerk

Dimitri Yachvili of France kicks a high ball down towards the New Zealand left. Inside his 22 Sitiveni Sivivatu calls for and is given the mark.

He stands there, drops the ball onto his rising right knee, grabs the ball again and gives it to Leon MacDonald who kicks the ball a long way downfield.

OK?

DEFINITION

Kick - a kick is made by hitting the ball with any part of the leg or foot, except the heel, from the toe to the knee but not including the knee a kick must move the ball a visible distance out of the hand, or along the ground

Law 21.3 HOW THE PENALTY AND FREE KICKS ARE TAKEN

(a) Any player may take a penalty or free kick awarded for an infringement with any kind of kick: punt, drop kick or place kick. The ball may be kicked with any part of the leg from knee to toe but not with the heel.

(b) Bouncing the ball on the knee is not taking a kick.

(c) The kicker must use the ball that was in play unless the referee decides it was defective.

Penalty: Any infringement by the kicker's team results in a scrum at the mark. The opposing team throws in the ball.

It was not all right.

2. Wrong side's ball - with indignation

Leon MacDonald of New Zealand kicks the ball a long way down the field towards the touch-line on his left. The ball drops. Dimitri Yachvili of France waits for it. He has both feet on the touch-line when he catches the ball just before it reaches the plane of the line.

The touch judge gives France the line-out.

OK?

The commentator did not think so.

Commentator: "That should, in my view, be an All Black line-out. Yachvili caught the ball in play and had both his feet on the touch-line. Still France have got away with that one somewhat."

Who was right - touch judge or commentator?

Law 19 Definitions The ball is in touch if a player catches the ball and that player has a foot on the touch-line or the ground beyond the touch line.

Law 19.4 WHO THROWS-IN

The throw-in is taken by an opponent of the player who last held or touched the ball before it went into touch. When there is doubt, the attacking team takes the throw-in.
Exception
When a team takes a penalty kick, and the ball is kicked into touch, the throw-in is taken by a player of the team that took the penalty kick. This applies whether the ball was kicked directly or indirectly to touch.

The touch judge was right. The ball was in touch because Yachvili was in touch. The team which had kicked the ball into touch was New Zealand. And so France throw in.

3. First offence

New Zealand counterattack. In a tackle Leon MacDonald passes inside to Sitiveni Sivivatu who knocks on. It is a substantial knock-on and players fall on the ball. Richie McCaw of New Zealand approaches the heap of players on the French side, from the side and not from the back. He grabs the ball and pops it back to the New Zealand side.

Commentator: "It would have been a penalty but the knock-on was the first offence."

The commentator was wrong again. The principal of "first offence" applies to offences by different teams, not by the same team. If what McCaw did was penalisable, he would have been penalised. But it was not penalisable.

The play that happened after the knock-on was not a tackle. It was also not an ruck because there was nobody on his feet.

That means that there was nothing to prevent McCaw from doing what he did. He did not have to approach the heap of players from any particular side.

4. Dealing with backchat

The referees are getting the players used to refraining from backchat.

Here are different ways of dealing with it.

a. Ma'a

The All Blacks are attacking with vigour. Richie McCaw has the ball and goes to ground. The referee penalises McCaw for holding on. Standing right there, centre Ma'a Nonu voices his disagreement.

The referee spins on his heel. He marches on 10 metres and calls Nonu over. He explains to Nonu that the opponent was first there and entitled to the ball. There is no ticking-off.

b. Elvis

The referee penalises the Pacific Islands for incorrect entry. Not far from him centre Elvis Seveali'i voices his disagreement.

The referee calls the centre and his captain over and says: "I just want to let you know that I'm refereeing the game. I don't want any comment about the decision. Incoirrect entry." And he returns to the place where he gave the penalty.

c. John

South Africa throw into a line-out and make a maul. They drive on. The referee's whistle goes and he awards a scrum, stating: "Knock-on."

John Smit is standing right next to him and appears to be talking at his own men.

The referee blows his whistle and penalises South Africa for dissent. He does not speak to anybody.

Three incidents, each with a different reaction.

Perhaps it is not just that something was said but what was said and how it was said.

By the way, respect for the refere's decision is written in law:

Law 6.A.5 PLAYERS DISPUTING A REFEREE’S DECISION

All players must respect the authority of the referee. They must not dispute the referee's decisions. They must stop playing at once when the referee blows the whistle except at a kick-off.

5. One-handed Morgan

A skew put-in at a scrum is a rarity of almost Dodo-esque proportions. But this one is even rarer.

Morgan Williams of Canada feeds a scrum against Wales. He flicks it in with his right hand and is off to get the ball.

The referee, having none of it, awards a free kick saying: "One-handed feed. I've got to penalise it."

Right?

Law 20.6 (b) The scrumhalf must hold the ball with both hands.
Penalty: Free kick.

6. Not off-side

a. Canada throw in deep at a line-out. The throw way to the back and tall Sean-Michael Stephen is over the 15-metre line when he catches the ball.

The referee calls: "Line-out over."

Wily Martyn Williams then goes round Stephen onto the Canadian side and drives in on him.

A maul forms around Williams and Stephen.

The referee does not penalise Williams.

Why not?

Firstly, he is not off-side at a line-out because the line-out was over when he moved across the line of touch. Once the ball went beyond 15m the line-out was over.

Secondly he got into position legally when the maul formed. He was allow to continue playing in that place.

b. Australia throw the ball into a line-out about 10 metres from their goal-line.

Up goes Al Campbell and he slaps the ball back some way from the line-out. Al, Baxter goes back to the ball. John Hayes and Donaccha O'Callaghan of Ireland go past Baxter but turn back to grab him. A maul forms. Hayes and O'Callaghan are now sandwiched between Australians - Baxter and help ahead and two behind, But the Irish pair carry on playing. Then suddenly as the maul surges to the ground Hayes erupts out of the maul with the ball and heads for the Wallaby line. He is felled some four metres from the line.

Play goes on.

OK?

Yes. When Hayes and O'Callaghan grabbed Baxter there was no maul. They got into position legally. They were then caught up in the maul as it formed and did nothing illegal in being caught up in the maul.

7. Musical props

Wales had three props - Gethin Jenkins, Adam Jones and Duncan Jones, and they sued all three in a rotational way. They started with Jenkins and Adam Jones. In the second half Duncan Jones came on in the place of Jenkins. Jenkins was off for 12 minutes and then came back as a substitute for Adam Jones.

Legitimate?

There is nothing wrong with Duncan Jones's substitution of Jenkins. What was queried was Jenkins's substitution of Adam Jones.

Law 3.12 SUBSTITUTED PLAYERS REJOINING THE MATCH If a player is substituted, that player must not return and play in that match even to replace an injured player.

Exception 1: a substituted player may replace a player with a bleeding or open wound.

Exception 2: a substituted player may replace a front row player when injured, temporarily suspended or sent off.

But then maybe the key man was Jenkins. Maybe he went off in the first place because he was bleeding. He was then replaced - temporarily - by Duncan Jones. Jenkins came back within the prescribed 15 minutes and now Duncan Jones became a substitute for Adam Jones.

That all sounds eminently legitimate.

Law 3.10 TEMPORARY REPLACEMENT

(a) When a player leaves the field to have bleeding controlled and/or have an open wound covered, that player may be temporarily replaced. If the player who has been temporarily replaced does not return to the field-of-play within 15 minutes (actual time) of leaving the playing area, the replacement becomes permanent and the replaced player must not return to the field-of-play.

8. Taione's error

Scott Murray charges ahead and is tackled. A heap of players forms at the place. Epi Taione of the Pacific Islands is behind the heap of players and steps into it trying to get at the ball. It is a high heap and he leans on the heap as he reaches down for the ball.

The referee tells him to leave it, saying: "It's not out."

Eventually Taione ravels up the ball and gets it to his side and eventually he is sent to the sin bin.

"It's not out." Not out of what?

There had been a tackle but Taione approached it from behind, and a tackle is not a ruck. The ball may be got out by hand.

It had none of the appearance of a ruck, that heap of bodies with nobody on his feet.

But Taoine was in the worng for being off his feet and playing the post-tackle ball. He was also silly not to obey the referee.

9. Clever TMO

Scotland attack in the second half. Chris Paterson slides a grubber into the Pacific Islands' in-goal. Sean Lamont heads after it. Norman Ligairi of the Islands is there but misses the ball. He dives to dot it down and misses. Then Ligairi and Lamont dive for the ball. Lamont gets his hands to the ball.

The referee who was playing advantage in favour of Scotland, then consulted the television match official, asking him to check the grounding of Blue (Scotland) in in-goal.

The television match official does not bother with the grounding, for he says: "Bryce, you blew before Blue got the ball down."

When the referee blew his whistle, play was dead. Whether Lamont grounded the ball or not was irrelevant.