What Sanction Would You Have Given

[Donal1988]

I refereed a fairly competitve local derby match this weekend. The game was played in great spirits. In the first half Blue #15 (captain) dived on a loose ball and as he got to his feet was robustly tackled again. A ruck was set up and ball was cleared to touch. Blue #8 took exception to how his captain had been tackled and when it was clear I was not going to penalise it suggested that they all "**** them up at the next breakdown with a few sly digs".

I called captain and himself over. I warned captain that I won't keep a player who will act unsafely on the pitch. I advised #8 that in future matches he shouldn't advertise his foul play to the referee in advance. Captain told #8 to grow up and assured me that incident was over. We had no trouble.

Late in second half (9 minutes to go) and there is a maul - Blue #8 in in the middle and an opposition player is interfering with his bind. Without looking back Blue #8 reaches back with his hand in a claw like shape and starts scrabbling at the other players face. It looked to me to be near his eyes. I blew whistle immediately and signalled captain and Blue #8.

In the middle of me reading the riot act to the captain, the injured Gold player comes over to shake Blue #8s hand. He says "its just my jaw and cheek he grabbed ref, no eye gouge or anything. I'm not injured".

I had originally planned on going for a Red Card but instead did not. I gave him a warning about the danger of eye gouging. I told him that although he didn't cause any injury he would get a yellow card for dangerous play and reckless play that could have caused serious injury. He accepted this and bought Gold #6 a pint after the game.

Handled ok or did I bottle the red card.

 

[ddjamo]

sounds good to me donal. 9min left blue 8 was done for the day anyway. mission accomplished, no bad blood and no paperwork for you.

 

[Adam]

9min left blue 8 was done for the day anyway. mission accomplished, no bad blood and no paperwork for you.

That's the wrong attitude to take!

But Donal I think you did well there. it can be hard to tell whereabouts on the face it was. As the injured player came over and told you what had happened I think it's fair to go with him, especially as you were unsure yourself exactly where the hand went!

 

[ddjamo]

oooohhhh geezus AJ lighten up a little....only joking about the ppwk.

 

[andyscott]

It was good management IMO, the players knew it was serious, the action by the victim was good spirited and YC was probably right.

The players accepted it

 

[Fat Twin]

Great management. Sometimes it can be unclear what has actually happened and what you have witnessed and perceive to have happened.

Given no8's previous advertisement - ask yourself if it was another player would it have warranted a card. If yes - then you prob got it bang on. If not, and I am guilty of this, it may have been the players poor attitude that led you to have to discipline him and think Red.

I have witnessed several occasions of players gently speaking to myself and the miscreant to highlight it wasnt foul play - unlike footy players!

 

[Adam]

oooohhhh geezus AJ lighten up a little....only joking about the ppwk.

It's been a long week!

 

[dave_clark]

what, countdown been a bit hard for you? bloody students.

:biggrin: :wink:

 

[Simon Thomas]

#8 had already been warned, so minimum YC. By not using the sanction you potentially lose control, so well done with the YC.

I would have started at RC on what you described, but with mitigation of Gold #6 reduced to YC as you did.


Good judgement and management.

 

[Donal1988]

BTW its off topic but from the same game. I have never see a scrum battle like this one. BRILLIANT. All the props with long binds. 2 early FKs for crooked feed, 1 FK for shoving before the ball is in and 1 PK for a whip wheel. It was a rainstorm and we had so many scrums. Some excellent front rows who all worked hard to compete and not look for silly FKs and PKs. Away team got an 5m pushover try from a scrum and home side actually tried their best to scrum legally against it. Several strikes against the head. A great day at the scrum. Really enjoyable and restored my faith in our current laws.

 

[Agustin]

BTW its off topic but from the same game. I have never see a scrum battle like this one. BRILLIANT. All the props with long binds. 2 early FKs for crooked feed, 1 FK for shoving before the ball is in and 1 PK for a whip wheel. It was a rainstorm and we had so many scrums. Some excellent front rows who all worked hard to compete and not look for silly FKs and PKs. Away team got an 5m pushover try from a scrum and home side actually tried their best to scrum legally against it. Several strikes against the head. A great day at the scrum. Really enjoyable and restored my faith in our current laws.

Sounds like a great game all around. Good captains + good scrums = good rugby.

Sweet stuff!