Wouldn't it be nice if.....

Stuartg


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...commentators read the Laws of the Game and informed themselves of changes. Today we had Scotland penalised for being offside charging down Tonga in goal. Commentator thinks hands on the ball is out of a ruck.
 

Taff


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...commentators read the Laws of the Game and informed themselves of changes. Today we had Scotland penalised for being offside charging down Tonga in goal. Commentator thinks hands on the ball is out of a ruck.
We had a "He has to let him up" yesterday as well. :biggrin:

I just wish the commentators would stay quiet while the Referee explains what the offence was. In fairness Brian Moore is one of the better ones, but some insist on speaking over the Ref and I must admit it does grate on me a bit.
 
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ChrisR

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Hear, hear!
 

Crucial

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...commentators read the Laws of the Game and informed themselves of changes. Today we had Scotland penalised for being offside charging down Tonga in goal. Commentator thinks hands on the ball is out of a ruck.

To be fair I can usually find differing directives on this rather critical issue from various bodies around the world (and from different referees). I have seen/ heard refs shout 'hands on', and conversly seen others tell defenders to get back when the ball is sitting in the open. It is an area of the game that could do with ONE very clear directive.
 

OB..


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To be fair I can usually find differing directives on this rather critical issue from various bodies around the world (and from different referees). I have seen/ heard refs shout 'hands on', and conversly seen others tell defenders to get back when the ball is sitting in the open. It is an area of the game that could do with ONE very clear directive.
Agree. Just about every team asks the ref at the pre-match briefing when the ball is out. And they get different answers - which is, of course, why they ask.
 

crossref


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Plenty of refs will say that hands on means ball out
 

crossref


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Yup.
This season, whenever I have been asked 'when is it out' I have referred to that video and asked if they had seen it.
So far only one scrum half has been aware of it (he turned out to be a ref as well), it hasn't sunken in yet. .
Of course many ref think the irb message is mistaken anyway...
 

Browner

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They need to get up to speed.

See http://www.irblaws.com/index.php?domain=9&guideline=7&language=EN


Offside at the ruck
May 2014
When a scrum half attempts to retrieve the ball from a ruck, the ball is not out until that player has picked the ball up from the ground.

This is an interesting subject
May 2014 - IRB issue a " Law application guideline "

But how does this information get disseminated to referees ????

I'll tell you how I didn't first hear about it:
- Via any of the RFU training depts,
- via my referee society
- via my club referee coordinator
!!!!!

So, without my personal diligence or through RR.com, then this info might not have got to me. I can only imagine that other referees are in the same boat.

I did inform my training officer at my society and a society communique followed, but this is luck - rather than a smart cascade system in action.
 

crossref


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In similar vein, yesterday I sin binned a player in an u18 game (in England) and his coaches were astonished when I beckoned him back on to the pitch after 7 minutes..
The RFU changed that regulation in August.

It just goes to show we need BOTH the laws and regulations on a website for all to see, and a a cascade.

The irb and RFU should have a mailing list of what's new, we could subscribe to.

Another odd thing I observe is that the power of the cascade is so strong that when there is a conflict between the laws/regulations on a RFU /irb website, and what refs were told in the last cascade.. They often prefer to believe the cascade....
 

Stuartg


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This is an interesting subject
May 2014 - IRB issue a " Law application guideline "

But how does this information get disseminated to referees ????

I'll tell you how I didn't first hear about it:
- Via any of the RFU training depts,
- via my referee society
- via my club referee coordinator
!!!!!

So, without my personal diligence or through RR.com, then this info might not have got to me. I can only imagine that other referees are in the same boat.

I did inform my training officer at my society and a society communique followed, but this is luck - rather than a smart cascade system in action.

Spot on, Browner. It's a shambles.
 
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