Advice on "water-carriers" not leaving the field of play quickly enough

[CrouchTPEngage]

For some reason, I have started seeing this recently.
Team who benefit from slowing the game down tend to deploy water-carriers at every sniff of a injury or a stoppage.
With my permission to enter the field , then fair enough but when I ask them to leave ( to play on), they dont seem in any hurry or are , dare I suggest , deliberately taking their time to gather the bottles and walk off the field.
After a warning, and further non-compliance, what weapons are there in the ref's arsenal to sanction teams which do this?
PK at the point of restart ? (
Yellow Card a water-carrier ? Coach ? PLayer ?

Any advice gratefully received.

 

[OB..]

For some reason, I have started seeing this recently.
Team who benefit from slowing the game down tend to deploy water-carriers at every sniff of a injury or a stoppage.
With my permission to enter the field , then fair enough but when I ask them to leave ( to play on), they dont seem in any hurry or are , dare I suggest , deliberately taking their time to gather the bottles and walk off the field.
After a warning, and further non-compliance, what weapons are there in the ref's arsenal to sanction teams which do this?
PK at the point of restart ? (
Yellow Card a water-carrier ? Coach ? PLayer ?

Any advice gratefully received.

Warn them that you will rescind your general permission to enter the field and make them ask each time.

 

[Dave Elliott]

Yer I agree with @OB.. above. Tell them from that point on water will only be allowed on if you say so.

Had something similar where a team under pressure in their 5 had an ‘injury’ after every break down, slowing play and stopping the quick on.

 

[CrouchTPEngage]

Good advice.
So ultimately, if water-carrier enters the field of play WITHOUT my permission, should I award a PK ? Of so where ?
What is the escalation profile on sanctions ?

I once ( thankfully only once) had a difficult issue with an angry coach and was told that ultimately, one can declare the match abandoned and write a report to Soc and Disciplinary Panel about coach's delinquent behaviour. I never did this but good to know its an option. So I guess same thing happens in the case of delinquent water-carriers.

Thanks

 

[didds]

Good advice.
So ultimately, if water-carrier enters the field of play WITHOUT my permission, should I award a PK ? Of so where ?

IANAR, but AIUI...

No. You can only card players (including bench players) under general LoTG - maybe some unions/comps may have specific regs ... maybe.

AIUI all you can doi is stop the game, and banish the perp to the stabnds/viewing area with no further action in the game avaiklable to them.

refusal of them to leave/they return means swtop the gakme and ask the home team's blazders to remove the perp from the premises etc or the game will be abandoned and repoerts filed.

and ultimately abaoindon the game and file reports.


somebody that knows what they are on about will be along soon

 

[Marc Wakeham]

Agreed you can't card OR PK them. You CAN issue a Code of Conduct report (CoC) which acts in a similar t oa sending off. The Club will face a fine or other action and the "perp" coud facr a ban from "rugby activities". (Wales)

 

[crossref]

Yer I agree with @OB.. above. Tell them from that point on water will only be allowed on if you say so.

Had something similar where a team under pressure in their 5 had an ‘injury’ after every break down, slowing play and stopping the quick on.

Injuries are a bit different, you can't stop them being injured. But where practical you can play on ..

 

[didds]

Id guess the injuries tend to happen to tight five forwards at breaks in play, especially scrums...

 

[Phil E]

Water carriers are allowed to come on at a stoppage of play, however this permission can be removed by the referee if it is abused.

If they are taking the proverbial I would suggest making a big show of stopping the clock every time they come on the pitch and don't restart it until they leave. If you feel they are genuinely doing this to affect the game you can stop them from coming onto the pitch and have them go behind the barrier for the remainder of the game.

This is no different to coaches coming onto the pitch or wandering up and down the sidelines.

We go through the Ask, Tell, Penalise procedure. In this case the penalise is to insist they stick to the regulations. If they fail to do so then they have the option of watching from the clubhouse, or having the game abandoned and explaining themselves to the RFU. I have threatened this a couple of times but never had to follow it through. Just stand there and say "we don't restart the game until you have left", after 30 seconds of silence the rest of their team will get rid of them for you.

We don't normally enforce the law and regulation below, because it's not normally a problem, however you have these in your armoury if you need them. Of course if the water carriers are also players then you could red card them, but that would be extreme.

Law 6
Appropriately trained and accredited first-aid or immediate (pitch-side) care persons may enter the playing area to attend to injured players at any time it is safe to do so.
The following may enter the playing area without the referee’s permission, provided they do not interfere with play or make any comments to the match officials:
Water-carriers during a stoppage in play for an injury to a player or when a try has been scored.
A person carrying a kicking tee after a team has indicated they intend to kick at goal or a try has been scored.
The coaches attending to their teams at half-time.

Regulation 13
Permitted Personnel 13.7.6
No more than four water carriers per team (including medical staff and replacement players) are permitted within the pitch side or perimeter fencing or other barrier. Water carriers may only be permitted onto the playing area for the purposes of taking water to the players at such times as shall be approved by the Referee (on any other occasion players must come to the touchline to get water).