SA Referees - more ELV scrum-half offside line confusion

[Rawling]

Sa Rugby Referees - LAW CHAT: HEINEKEN, ROUND 3

4. The wide scrumhalf

Castres win the ball at a scrum and it is at the feet of their No.8, Florian Faure. Chris Whitaker, the Leintser scrumhalf moves away from the scrum infield.

The referee penalises him.

Why?

If the ball is still in the scrum, Whitaker is obliged to stay in close proximity to the scrum or retreat five metres behind the scrum.

Faure had difficulty controlling the ball at the back of the scrum but hung onto his locks, arms extended while scrumhalf Kevin Senio waited for the ball behind him..

Would this make a difference to what Whitaker did?

It would then mean that Faure was no longer bound. If he was no longer bound he was no longer in the scrum. If he was no longer in the scrum then it is hard to reason that the ball is still in the scrum. If the ball is no longer in the scrum, the scrum is over. If the scrum is over then Whitaker is allowed to wander.

Didn't we (you) decide this wasn't the case? That one offside line for the non-winning scrum half is the back foot, and that he can leave the immediate area of the scrum as long as he is behind this line?

 

[Simon Thomas]

Indeed - IRB update / clarification / ruling states offside line is through back foot and across the field.

SA Refs seem to have missed another one.

 

[Rawling]

Damn.

Simply because they actually let you e-mail international referees and get an answer, I'd like to believe they're infallible