I was debating the scrum forum for this but I think this is a more what would you do scenario.
The school side I coach traveled this weekend and the team they faced was a complete horror show. It was a double header ladies/men's. When I arrived the ref was busy trying to get the home team to put the field in shape; they had incorrectly lined the field! No fifty, lines at the 10 and the 30 from try area, two lines about 5 meters out from midfield, no 5/15s along touch, and missing flags to indicate what line was to be what. I noticed the uprights were the movable kind that had metal standout bases which would be extremely hazardous. I called the ref over and explained my concerns. He checked them out and agreed, saying he would not start the match with them on the field. I offered the solution of moving them to the back of the try zone so the base would be off the field which was agreed to. Finally, ladies game underway.
On to the men's game with a different referee. As of Friday night they had no ref scheduled for the men's, somehow they got one to come out same day's notice. First scrum the ref calls crouch-bind-engage! Packs come together and the packs wait, and wait and wait, finally he says put it in scrumhalf. Scrumhalf complies. Scrum wheels a full 360 degrees with no signal from the ref until it collapses; reset, put in still with original team. Our flyhalf screams 'it was f'ing wheeled sir' and nearly gets binned for the language. Second scrum, crouch-bind-engage! Packs come together and the packs wait, and wait and wait, he blows it dead and tells our scrumhalf he must put it in immediately on the engage call. Our scrumhalf asks the ref that, isn't he supposed to wait for instruction from the ref to put the ball in? Ref says 'no it must be put in immediately on the engage call.'
I had thought that the first c-b-engage was just an slip-up, now I realize this ref maybe doesn't have the fullest grasp of the current scrum laws and cadence. In fact, I am wondering if he is a certified ref or was certified but has been out of the game for some time... Subsequently he awards a 22-drop for the ball being kicked directly out through the try zone. I ask 'can't we take a scrum from the place of the kick?' He says 'no, it went out the side of the of the try zone, it is a 22-drop.' The game continues on much in the same fashion with me puzzling some of the calls.
Someone from the home team speaks to him at half time and he comes up to me and says 'i realize i may have the scrum call wrong, should i change it to c-b-set for the second half?'
What would you answer?
The school side I coach traveled this weekend and the team they faced was a complete horror show. It was a double header ladies/men's. When I arrived the ref was busy trying to get the home team to put the field in shape; they had incorrectly lined the field! No fifty, lines at the 10 and the 30 from try area, two lines about 5 meters out from midfield, no 5/15s along touch, and missing flags to indicate what line was to be what. I noticed the uprights were the movable kind that had metal standout bases which would be extremely hazardous. I called the ref over and explained my concerns. He checked them out and agreed, saying he would not start the match with them on the field. I offered the solution of moving them to the back of the try zone so the base would be off the field which was agreed to. Finally, ladies game underway.
On to the men's game with a different referee. As of Friday night they had no ref scheduled for the men's, somehow they got one to come out same day's notice. First scrum the ref calls crouch-bind-engage! Packs come together and the packs wait, and wait and wait, finally he says put it in scrumhalf. Scrumhalf complies. Scrum wheels a full 360 degrees with no signal from the ref until it collapses; reset, put in still with original team. Our flyhalf screams 'it was f'ing wheeled sir' and nearly gets binned for the language. Second scrum, crouch-bind-engage! Packs come together and the packs wait, and wait and wait, he blows it dead and tells our scrumhalf he must put it in immediately on the engage call. Our scrumhalf asks the ref that, isn't he supposed to wait for instruction from the ref to put the ball in? Ref says 'no it must be put in immediately on the engage call.'
I had thought that the first c-b-engage was just an slip-up, now I realize this ref maybe doesn't have the fullest grasp of the current scrum laws and cadence. In fact, I am wondering if he is a certified ref or was certified but has been out of the game for some time... Subsequently he awards a 22-drop for the ball being kicked directly out through the try zone. I ask 'can't we take a scrum from the place of the kick?' He says 'no, it went out the side of the of the try zone, it is a 22-drop.' The game continues on much in the same fashion with me puzzling some of the calls.
Someone from the home team speaks to him at half time and he comes up to me and says 'i realize i may have the scrum call wrong, should i change it to c-b-set for the second half?'
What would you answer?
