"Give him the slipper!" - - - or maybe not!

On Target - Volume 3 "Give him the slipper!" - - - or maybe not!

One of the things that has always made rugby different from other sports was the ability (in certain situations) for the players to regulate certain phases of the game. In particular the ruck situation, where attacking players were often seen to stamp on opposing players to clear them out of the way.

This has changed, and recent directives from the IRB will see referees being encouraged to be stricter on this.

Now it is important to make a distinction between "TV Rugby", and the rugby at the level we are dealing with. As much as it may seem to be somewhat of a dichotomy, the referees on TV will be taking charge of a higher level match and will be looser on some interpretations. There is also a level of pressure on them to allow the game to play on in the manner that the viewers expect.

In the NERFU division of USA Rugby we are dealing with amateur players, who have a massively varied amount of experience and skill. Therefore the emphasis is placed on SAFETY before anything else.

The law previously used to describe moving the foot backwards, and gave some guidelines as to acceptable behavior. However the law now reads as follows:

Ruck Section
Law 16 ­ 3 - (f) A player rucking for the ball must not ruck players on the ground. A player rucking for the ball tries to step over players on the ground and must not intentionally step on them. A player rucking must do so near the ball. Penalty: Penalty Kick for dangerous play .
Foul Play Section
Law 10 ­ 4- (b) Stamping or trampling. A player must not stamp or trample on an opponent. Penalty: Penalty Kick

Now this should not be complicated. It is simply stated. However the "understanding" in the past has been that if someone is on your side of the ruck that they are fair game, and then you hear shouts of "Shoe him!" or "Give him the slipper" (many others spring to mind too).

This has changed. The IRB have asked referees to be strict on this. As a result you should expect to be penalized for this sort of play, as long as the referee is playing tightly to these guidelines. In addition ref's are being encouraged to step up the "preventative" refereeing, which means that you may see quick penalties when someone comes over the top of a ruck, or appears to not be rolling away from the ball on the ground. This might mean less advantage being played, but the idea is to get players in the mindset of not infringing on the ground, and to prevent those players from a potentially dangerous stamping incident.

As always you have to accept that each referee will play this phase of play differently, but the assumption should be that you will be aggressively penalized for infringing on the ground, and even more severely penalized if you raise a boot to a player on the ground. This includes yellow cards being presented faster than you might expect, and also red cards given for stamping that you might previously have expected would be acceptable.

Any questions on the referee's management of this should be raised before kickoff, through your captain and during the safety talk. As always do not expect that second guessing him during the match will be particularly productive!