Refereeing 7s

[KieranW]

Evening chaps,

I've got a couple of 7's matches coming up and I was wondering if there is anything in particular I should know, barring the clear and obvious points (e.g. it's faster, law variations etc). In particular any management points I should be doing differently when compared with 15s? I'm sure there's a post on this somewhere but after about 10 pages of a search I decided to give up.

Thanks,
Kieran

 

[ckuxmann]

Kieran,
The biggest thing personally is the speed of the tackle. The teams want to get moving very quickly, so slowing of the ball down is very important by either team.

In terms of advantage it's very quick, scrum advantage a pass maybe two and it's over. Penalty advantage is very tactical, so a 3 on 1 possibly a 2 on 1 would warrant advantage over.

Ball line running is often important if you don't have ARs. You want to stay as much in line with the ball as possible, following the passes yet, you need to maintain where the comeback is in case they decide to go back. If you have ARs you are much more able to run a more defensive line/behind it.

Cody

 

[L'irlandais]

Hi Kieran,
Is this the one you were looking for ? Reffing 7s - Any tips

Also worth a look :

A new release of Refereeing Sevens Handbook
Pointers about what to look for, positioning, etc...
also includes the iRB variations, but then they can be easily downloaded from iRB anyway.

Nicked from here USA Rugby - Referee Educational Resources

Hope this helps...

 

[Dixie]

And watch for common variations that don't appear in the book - specifically conversions coming back infield (optimum in my view, but if you allow it, insist on it throughout - don't let 'em pick and choose the easiest kick). Does anyone brief the FR in 7's? Be aware that the scrum will be messy and the attacking SH is under huge pressure as the ball is rarely controlled. There's no variation to the SH offside, so watch closely for the defender sneaking even a toe ahead of the ball.

 

[KieranW]

Thanks guys, some helpful information there.

@L'irlandais, that's the thread I was trying to find! That's also quite a find with the USA Rugby document, I'll plough my way though that. Merci beaucoup.

 

[menace]

One I'd add...and it sounds obvious, but I see it so many times at 7's. be mindful of what a tackle only is. I see it so many times where sides are being pinged for offside, when it was only a tackle and no ruck had formed (you'll only see a ruck or 2 each game). I think many 15's refs get complacent about what they see at the tackle, and just assume once there is a tackle that it will form into a ruck

 

[Bryan]

My 2 biggest learning curves from 15s:

1. Run north south. You might be 20m away from the ball, but that's ok. Move in for the collisions, but get used to running in the middle of the field with tons of space, slightly ahead of the ball.

2. There is no presence required at the tackle like there is in XVs, so STFU. Say nothing, as typically it's already material. As long as you're accuracy is high (which tends to increase if we say less), you'll be fine.

Then again I'm not exactly a cut-from-the-mould 7s referee, but remember that the scrum is merely a restart, and it's all about ball-in-time, not getting a contest at the scrum here (I'm not kidding; dont labour me about the scrum being a contest for the ball in 7s)

 

[Dickie E]

My 2 biggest learning curves from 15s:

1. Run north south. You might be 20m away from the ball, but that's ok. Move in for the collisions, but get used to running in the middle of the field with tons of space, slightly ahead of the ball.

2. There is no presence required at the tackle like there is in XVs, so STFU. Say nothing, as typically it's already material. As long as you're accuracy is high (which tends to increase if we say less), you'll be fine.

Then again I'm not exactly a cut-from-the-mould 7s referee, but remember that the scrum is merely a restart, and it's all about ball-in-time, not getting a contest at the scrum here (I'm not kidding; dont labour me about the scrum being a contest for the ball in 7s)

See you in HK?

 

[Bryan]

See you in HK?

fraid not. They will have to bring one more referee along due to the larger-sized tournament, but it wont be me.

Go you good thing!

 

[Davet]

dont labour me about the scrum being a contest for the ball in 7s

No. I won't.

Though presumably the put in needs to be reasonably straight, and what contest there is comes down to timing on the push/hook, and co-ordination?

 

[Bryan]

No. I won't.

Though presumably the put in needs to be reasonably straight, and what contest there is comes down to timing on the push/hook, and co-ordination?

Go one step further than the "clear and obvious". Scrum PKs are typically of the "blatant and egregious" variety. Dont go looking for something.

 

[Skids]

Thanks for this thread, quite opportune. I have the RAF 7's tournament in a few weeks and the links and discussion have provided some useful reading. This will be my 4th or 5th RAF 7's but it's always good to read new pointers. :clap:

 

[Dickie E]

"blatant and egregious"

:clap: Nice. Now added to my rugby vocabulary.