Eighteen minutes had passed in the 2011 Rugby World Cup Semi Final between Wales and France. Warren Gatland’s Welsh side were 3-0 up in a tight opener, fancying their chances against a French side who had reached the last four in spite of being made to look rather ordinary in defeat against Tonga in the group stages. However, Wales’ talismanic leader Sam Warburton, on fine form and his country’s key man, had just landed a big hit on the French winger Vincent Clerc, causing the unfortunate Frenchman to land head first on to the Eden Park turf.
Despite the protestations of the furious ITV commentators who felt even a yellow card was harsh, referee Alain Rolland produced a red card.
Social media exploded in condemnation of Rolland’s interpretation of the law. Thousands of Welsh fans watching video playback in Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium howled in derision and injustice. Francois Pienaar, Lawrence Dallaglio and Martyn Williams in the ITV stadium seethed at the travesty of the decision.
France went on the reach the final with a 9-8 victory that would be easy to conclude may well have swung the other way had the match remained a fifteen a side contest.
And yet Alain Rolland got the decision absolutely spot on. Paddy O’Brien, the popular former New Zealand referee and later referees’ manager of IRB (now World Rugby) backed up his Irish colleague:
“Alain Rolland’s decision to issue a red card was absolutely correct in law and in keeping with the clear instructions that match officials have received in recent years regarding dangerous tackling.”
In all the outrage, the laws of the game and the instructions given in interpretation to the referees had been conveniently ignored.
Since Warburton’s sending off, it has become a relatively common occurrence to see any hit on a player whose legs fly up in the air be met with howls of indignation from opposing fans and a hasty check of the replay by the TMO to check what part of the tackled players anatomy hit the deck first. Red cards for tip tackles are not a rare occurrence any more, arguably as a result of Rolland’s correct interpretation.
Earlier this month, the refereeing appointments for the pool stages of this autumn’s Rugby World Cup were announced, with South African Jaco Peyper taking charge of the opening game between England and Fiji. This will of course be the first Rugby World Cup where the TMO has jurisdiction that goes further than whether a try has been scored. Foul play can be examined in far greater detail and with greater accuracy than previous tournaments. One would hope that this will allow a clear and consistent approach to ensure the welfare of the players on the pitch is protected.
Rolland’s decision in Auckland came about as a result of existing laws of the game being clarified and no longer being ignored. For the good of the game and the safety of the players, a further hope would be that the meeting of World Rugby’s Law Representation Group in May is acted upon. In the meeting, it was agreed that there were several areas of the game that did not require law amendments, but rather they needed to be officiated correctly. It is inevitable, alas, that these clarifications have been missed by the majority of observers and as such we can expect some bewilderment at their application. As such, there may be some interesting refereeing talking points.
Firstly, expect to see a ferocious crackdown on tackles that make contact with the head or neck. Any grabbing or choking of these areas, including in the clear out, can expect to be met with either a red or yellow card.
Secondly, there has thankfully been some clarification with regards to the prevailing confusion of challenging in the air. Whilst player welfare is paramount, nobody wishes to see an accidental collision in the air punished with a sending off because one of the parties fell awkwardly head first, yet this is exactly what has been happening with some regularity in recent months. World Rugby have clarified that an accidental collision where both players are challenging the ball should not be penalised regardless of the landing. A mis-timed challenge for the ball should be a penalty only, with cards reserved for unfair challenges or no contest being made, the colour decided by the landing of the player. This seems a fair fairer interpretation, and one that Ulster fans who still remember Jared Payne’s sending off for his collision with Alex Goode in 2014’s Heineken Cup will feel is not before time.
It is somewhat saddening that the third clarification is necessary, yet here we are with further directions with regards to the scrum. This time it isn’t with regards to the setting of the scrum, since ‘crouch, bind, set’ appears to have tidied it up somewhat. What is being clarified is the basics. Referees have been instructed to award a free kick for feeds that clearly are not straight (hooray – but how many times have we heard this now?), to ensure that shoulders are straight (hooray – but why the reminder?) and to “manage the situation”. Perhaps this will mean an increase in free kicks and penalties at scrum time, but hopefully “managing the situation” will involve actually telling props not to slip their bind, to get off their opponent’s arm and to keep their shoulders straight before they are pinged. The LRG did clarify that a stationary scrum with the ball at a number 8’s feet should result in a call of “use it” from the referee, but again this really ought to have always been the case.
Finally, referees have been reminded that in the maul, all players who join in front of the ball carrier should be penalised and furthermore anyone ripping the ball must be bound to the maul. Good news for those of us who enjoy a well contested rolling maul!
Whilst these clarifications serve as helpful reminders for referees, the lack of mention in the ruck is a concern, since the habitual flouting of the requirement to bind from the back foot and with the arm has become common place. Far too often you see you players clearing out off their feet, charging in and with minimal effort to bind with the arm. If players’ welfare really is paramount, referees really need to enforce the existing rules. Whilst nobody wishes for the Rugby World Cup to be remembered for refereeing, nobody wishes to remember it as the tournament when somebody was seriously hurt in a match.
Let us hope the men in the middle have taken on board the reminders and facilitate a World Cup where the rugby is the talking point.
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