Toby Warren
Referees in England
- Joined
- Nov 8, 2007
- Messages
- 3,431
- Post Likes
- 57
PabloNo, of course not - it depends on the order of events. Ball grounded, then post moves = try; Post moves, then ball grounded = no try (under non-ELV law). But spotting the movement of the post is much easier than spotting whether any part of the entire length of the diving player's body has hit the ground on/beyond the touch-line before he grounds the ball - especially when there are other players between me and the touch-line.
And that is the situation I had on Saturday - the post definitely moved before the grounding of the ball, but even from only 10m away, because of the position of other players, I cannot honestly declare I am certain that no part of the diving player was in touch. Under old law, it was clearly touch-in-goal and no try. Under the ELV, I just can't be certain, and the post was no help to me whatsoever. Given one of the oft-repeated rationales for the ELVs was to "make the game easier to referee and simpler to understand for spectators", I am pointing out that this ELV has absolutely failed to achieve this aim, as exemplified by my match last weekend.
I completely agree, in the early days of the ELV debates I suggested that this law change actually made it harded to judge. I was widely (but politely) barracked with the view being 'you don't need to worry about the posts anymore so it is easier'
Down in the weeds (in fact at all levels other than TMO) seeing a post move is so much easier than seeing if a line is crossed/touched.
It is a suprisingly common occurance that there are incidents with the corner posts.