Law Changes Necessary

Having been to the two Rugby World Cup quarter finals in Cardiff last weekend, and watched the other two on television, the event which has left the most vivid impression on me was one decision at Twickenham.

No it was not the awarding of a penalty to the Wallabies which eventually ended the mighty challenge of the Scots, but it did happen in the same game. For me the most important call by referee Joubert occurred earlier in the game. It was a vital decision which reduced Scotland to fourteen players and resulted in them conceding ten points.

For the majority of those watching, the suggestion that Sean Maitland deliberately knocked the ball forward is totally ludicrous. He was clearly trying to intercept the pass. If successful we’d all be lauding him because he would have scored under the cross bar. There is no player in world rugby who would not have attempted to cleanly gather in that pass and for the officials to yellow card Maitland, and in fact consider a penalty try would be laughable- if it hadn’t had such dire consequences. It was a knock on offence at worst

This law needs urgent attention. Referees and their assistants must be made aware of the difference between a desperate defender trying to just block a pass to prevent a try, and an alert opportunistic player attempting to grab a try scoring chance. The extraordinary sinbinning of the Scotland winger might have been according the laws of rugby, but appeared to reinforce an opinion that some officials have no feel for the game.

I think the rugby law makers would be hard pressed to find any support for this law and the way it is interpreted far too often.

It was a decision which had far more impact that the final penalty ruling which has created controversy. That was a referee error. The Maitland sinbinning came from an interpretation of a law which needs to be urgently reviewed.

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