As coaches and teams work on finessing and perfecting their illicit lineout driving mauls, the speed of these is increasing and it is becoming nigh impossible for defending players to hold their ground. We are now seeing running mauls, which gain a substantial amount of territory, rarely feasible with a correctly-formed maul.
This regularly-used tactic also has the effect of dumbing down the game with yet more mauls. And it plays into the hands of bigger teams, who also have more impact players to come off the bench. But all is not lost, rugby union does have a court of appeal.
It’s incomprehensible how this unarguable, blatant illegality has gone so far without a halt being called by World Rugby. However, any union can apply for a ruling on any aspect of the laws, and a question on this issue would be simple to frame. Accompanied by videos of players illegally leaving the lineout just as it starts, forming a second line of players who then drive on to their catcher as he lands, the query would only then need to refer to the specific laws that outlaw this practice.
“Finally, the tactic is evidently not legal, and we would be grateful for your confirmation of our position, and that the law must be refereed.” That should wrap up the question nicely. Those who sit on the appeals court would undoubtedly agree with something so expressly forbidden in “the book of words”.
It’s also still not too late for the governing body to take ownership of the issue. Being proactive and ensuring that match officials no longer opt out of applying a basic law would do the trick.
Ireland were poor against Japan in the Nations Championship despite winning 36-20. Again, nothing much clicked. All too frequently players decided that their best bet was to pound away at their opponents’ goalline with short range pick and drives, which are quite an obsession these days. In these situations match officials have difficult decisions to make as they search for the position of the ball. A reader of this column recently wondered if rugby is the only sport where fans don’t see anything until the referee makes a decision. It’s a good question.
Attractive rugby it is certainly not. Players, who are often bashing away non-stop, leading with their heads, should study the research on the dangers of brain damage from sub-concussive blows to the head. They’d do well to question the long-term wisdom of their actions.
France, behind at half-time against Australia by the scoreline of 12-21, put in a second half of sheer brilliance, notable for fast ruck ball and the evasion of defenders. Ireland’s dull, collision-seeking play paled in comparison – Les Bleus were magnificent in their 42-26 victory. Karl Dickson was in charge, and, by my book, had a mixed afternoon. Both breakdown and scrums needed a firmer hand. France, for example, were guilty of a clearcut side entry before their third try.
Later on, Dickson would chalk off a French try for a forward pass. It was far away from being clear and obvious, which is normally the necessary criteria for such big calls. Ireland can be retrospectively relieved that these officials weren’t the ones looking at Jack Conan’s scoring pass to Jamison Gibson-Park for the vital try against Australia.
Dickson, having called one particular tackle “dominant” and no more, played on. He then allowed the Television Match Official (TMO) to intervene and changed his mind. It can be argued both ways, but that’s hardly enough for TMO intervention in the first place. These guys need to butt out unless they have something indisputable that has been missed by the referee.
Hollie Davidson’s performance in the Six Nations was not a particularly good day at the office, but in the England v Fiji game she returned to her straightforward “matter-of-fact” style, inclusive of reducing irrelevant verbal communication. The straight red card for Fijian Simione Kuruvoli was absolutely the right call. His kick on Ellis Genge was an egregious offence; it’s not up to the referee to measure its velocity in an effort to downgrade the sanction.
There were a lot of reviews with TMO Mike Adamson, yet it’s hard to criticise the officials – there was a hell of a lot going on. Davidson, however, did not need any help in getting rid of Levani Botia. The yellow card decision was spot on and necessary too. It gave the player time to cool down and recover from a bad case of losing the plot.
Davidson’s handling of a potential penalty for a deliberate knock-on was also on the money. On review, she decreed it was a genuine attempt to catch the ball. In these incidents the position of the player’s hand is the critical factor – if it is an attempt to pull back the ball or an effort to get under it then it should not be penalised. Overall, Davidson’s performance in a tricky assignment will have gained her valuable air-mile points towards a plane ticket to the next Rugby World Cup.
Headbutting is in the same heinous category as kicking, but referee Luc Ramos did not hand out a straight red for Italian Niccolò Cannone’s effort on New Zealand scrumhalf Cam Roigard in the All Blacks’ 47-17 victory. Instead it was a 20-minute red, which was then upgraded in the bunker to the maximum sentence.
The straight red card remains a most serious bone of contention between the hemispheres. If player welfare means anything at all to anybody, the morally correct decision is to keep it. The game must not allow the sanction to be sacrificed on the altar of so-called spectacle.
