"In Straight, and Shut it!"

On Target - Volume 4 "In straight, and Shut it!"

There were recently some changes at the IRB’s Dublin Headquarters, and the most notable was the appointment of Paddy O’Brien (a Kiwi despite the Irish name). O’Brien was widely regarded as one of the top referees until his recent retirement, and his appointment is a sign that the IRB want someone in place who can really work on clarifying laws and their application in a modern way.

Over the course of recent years certain areas of the game have adapted, some due to the advent of professionalism at the top levels, and some simply the evolution of the game. As the sport of rugby develops it will always be influenced by outside forces, and other sports, some of this positive and some less so.

Since his appointment O’Brien has talked about redirecting rugby back where it should be, and putting a true emphasis on playing the game within the laws. His two major issues, which will be areas you should expect to see referees paying more attention to, are scrum put in, and “backchat”.

Scrums
The laws are simple. The ball must be placed in straight down the middle of the tunnel, and both hookers must wait until the ball is put in before they strike for it. It sounds very simple, yet somehow the scrums in many matches are beginning to resemble the absolute farce that is Rugby League scrummages.
So expect to be required to produce “credible” scrum feeds going forward.

Backchat
To quote O’Brien: "There is nothing in the law book that says players have the right to make comments to a referee. It is a privilege on their part, but sadly it has been abused.

"Half the time, players or captains are complaining simply to stop the other side taking a quick penalty. It is slowing the game up and has to be tackled.

"In fact, the law book says that players must not do anything make a decision, and players need to play within the boundaries that the referee’s decisions set. You may not agree, you may think he/she has missed something (it’s possible considering there’s only one of them out there), but the continual barrage of questions is likely to be frowned upon going forward. This includes captains feeling the need to question every single decision.

As always you may find slight differences in the tolerance of an individual referee. This is one of the beauties of Rugby, the laws are applied by a solitary official, working with 30 players, and very occasionally 2 qualified touch judges. Unlike American Football/Gridiron, where there is a massive team of referees to apply the rules of that game to the letter, Rugby allows for some flexibility.

Until next time, play the whistle, and enjoy yourselves.

That’s the reason you are out there in the first place!