Pablo

Referees in England
- Joined
- Jan 27, 2004
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- Current Referee grade:
- Level 6
I know this has been asked before, but my searches haven’t found a consensus since the law book rewrite.
Knock-on into (or in) the in-goal was explicitly covered in the 2017 law book as being a defending scrum 5m out, rather than being a 22m drop-out - the theory being, and adviser once explained to me, “not getting scored in is advantage enough”!
I had this knock-on situation arise three times on Saturday, and I gave the scrum every time (at least I was consistent!), but the non-offending side asked about the 22. I said no with enough conviction and confidence that it wasn’t argued, but when I went to check the law book afterwards, I found the explicit reference on this situation has been removed.
I still believe the decision is correct, but requires a somewhat tortuous justification in law compared to the 2017 clarity, and find myself wondering what others do. And I certinaly don’t think it was WR’s intent to changed the outcomes of this situation.
So, do you:
- still award scrum 5m to defenders, and if so, what’s your justification?
- give the 22 drop-out for a ball played into in-goal by attack, even though it was knocked on?
Knock-on into (or in) the in-goal was explicitly covered in the 2017 law book as being a defending scrum 5m out, rather than being a 22m drop-out - the theory being, and adviser once explained to me, “not getting scored in is advantage enough”!
I had this knock-on situation arise three times on Saturday, and I gave the scrum every time (at least I was consistent!), but the non-offending side asked about the 22. I said no with enough conviction and confidence that it wasn’t argued, but when I went to check the law book afterwards, I found the explicit reference on this situation has been removed.
I still believe the decision is correct, but requires a somewhat tortuous justification in law compared to the 2017 clarity, and find myself wondering what others do. And I certinaly don’t think it was WR’s intent to changed the outcomes of this situation.
So, do you:
- still award scrum 5m to defenders, and if so, what’s your justification?
- give the 22 drop-out for a ball played into in-goal by attack, even though it was knocked on?