FightOrFlight
Referees in Ireland
- Joined
- Dec 9, 2013
- Messages
- 175
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In a recent game there was an issue with "playing the 9".
Blue v Red There was a tackle. Blue player clears over but past the ball and is pulled or falls away leaving nobody "guarding the gate". Blue 9 is arriving to play the ball but as he arrives on the scene he is engaged and cleared out by a Red player. Red player drives him away and another red player picks and carries away.
Howls from the 9 and sideline about them "playing the 9". It should be said that they made a piss poor job of clearing out their ball much to the time in the game and later in the game a very similar situation arose but it was the number 6 not the 9 involved. Not a word this time.
My question is really two pronged:
1) Does having a 9 on your back allow you to receive special treatment around rucks?(in law....obviously any 9 will tell you it does...)
2) In this incidence is the 9 just a player arriving to secure the ball and so liable to be cleared out? There were no players in front of him so it could be argued the ruck was over but again had he been a 7 it would not have raised an issue.
Blue v Red There was a tackle. Blue player clears over but past the ball and is pulled or falls away leaving nobody "guarding the gate". Blue 9 is arriving to play the ball but as he arrives on the scene he is engaged and cleared out by a Red player. Red player drives him away and another red player picks and carries away.
Howls from the 9 and sideline about them "playing the 9". It should be said that they made a piss poor job of clearing out their ball much to the time in the game and later in the game a very similar situation arose but it was the number 6 not the 9 involved. Not a word this time.
My question is really two pronged:
1) Does having a 9 on your back allow you to receive special treatment around rucks?(in law....obviously any 9 will tell you it does...)
2) In this incidence is the 9 just a player arriving to secure the ball and so liable to be cleared out? There were no players in front of him so it could be argued the ruck was over but again had he been a 7 it would not have raised an issue.