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Chairs,
LAU Referee Societies
Decisions
made at the Interim IRB Council Meeting
I
have now received a complete electronic copy of
the amendments and rulings that were approved at
the interim meeting of the IRB Council in
November. I
distributed some of these (the ones with immediate
effect) to you earlier.
The complete set is now available and is
attached. Please
disseminate the information as far and as quickly
as you can throughout the rugby community within
your jurisdiction.
My brief summary of the decisions follows
as a guidepost to the changes.
However the IRB text is the definitive
version, and should be referred to by those
seeking to be precise.
Some
are amendments that go into effect immediately.
Law
10 TEMPORARY REPLACEMENT
15
minute limit for blood injury.
This is a change to prevent abuse.
If
a replacement is temporarily suspended the
original player may not return to the field of
play until the suspension period is ended.
This is a clarification of existing intent.
Sevens
Variations
There
are a series of changes for the Seven-a-side game.
Law
9 TAKING A CONVERSION KICK
·
40
second limit.
This was changed from the standard 60
seconds to keep game moving.
Law
13 KICK-OFFS AND RESTART KICKS
·
If
a player of the kicker's team is offside at a
kick-off the sanction is now a free kick at the
center.
·
If
ball at a kick-off is kicked straight into in goal
and the defenders immediately ground the ball the
sanction is a free kick at the center.
The
sanction used to be a scrum center for both of
these infringements. It was changed to be
consistent with sanctions for "straight into
touch" and "not ten" at kick-off in
sevens.
Law
20 SCRUM
·
No
kicking out of the scrum towards opponents’ goal
line. The penalty is a penalty kick.
This eliminates a form of destructive play.
Law
21 PENALTY AND FREE KICKS
·
30
second time limit for penalty kicks at goal.
Same rationale as for the conversion kick.
Under-19
Variations.
Law
19 TOUCH AND LINE-OUT
·
No
support below the waist. There was an omission
from the IRB release of the Laws in 2000 related
to an exclusion for the U 19 Game.
One
amendment goes into effect on January 1, 2002.
Law
9 METHOD OF SCORING
·
Law
9 A 2(d) is amended make it illegal for a player
to touch the ball in an attempt to prevent a
penalty goal from being scored.
This eliminates the (in)famous John Eales
play of a year or so ago, in which he was lifted
by other players to prevent the ball from going
over the cross bar.
If touching the ball is illegal, there is
little point in lifting.
Some
of the amendments were approved at the November
meeting, but will not go into effect until after
the Annual IRB Council Annual Meeting in March,
2002. With
one exception, they have no effect on play, as
they are merely minor additions and deletions to
the Definitions section of the Laws.
The exception is:
Law 3
NUMBER OF PLAYERS
·
Law
3.2 is amended to introduce a penalty kick as the
sanction for playing with too many players.
Currently (and continuing probably until
the fall season of 2002) there is no sanction.
Some
are Law Rulings on existing Law (as opposed to
amendments), and are in effect immediately.
Law 15 6
(d) THE TACKLED PLAYER
·
In
recent times players that have been tackled or
that have gone to ground have done so ensuring
that the ball is underneath them.
They then push the ball along the ground
and through their legs (a practice that has
recently come to be known as “squeeze ball”).
On most occasions when players attempt to
push the ball along the ground under their bodies
they are not making the ball available immediately
and they are in contravention of Law 14.1 and Law
15. 6(d). Players
who attempt the action are liable to penalty
unless the ball is immediately available.
Effectively
there is no change in interpretation in USA Rugby.
In making the ruling the IRB has been more
definitive in clarifying existing Law.
USA Rugby had previously clarified this
issue in the Guidelines on the Application of Law
in Section 1.3.2.
The sentence “If the tackled player is
kneeling on the ground and over the ball, the
player must play the ball immediately” refers to
the squeeze ball play.
The
IRB has asked that domestic variations be
introduced that prohibit the squeeze ball play in
matches involving younger players.
At what age level this will be applied in
USA Rugby is under consideration, and will be
decided shortly by the USA Rugby Management
Committee or Board of Directors.
An announcement will be made.
Law
19 TOUCH
AND LINE-OUT
·
For
some time there has been uncertainty throughout
the world on whether or not a ball is in touch if
it has crossed the touch line and, before it
touches the ground, it is knocked back into the
field-of- play by a player who has jumped beyond
the touch line and has remained in the air.
The current interpretation in USA Rugby has
been that, provided neither the player nor the
ball have touched the ground on or beyond the
touch line, the ball is not in touch.
The
IRB ruling changes that interpretation.
As clarification of Law 19 Definitions, if
the ball has crossed the touch line and, before it
touches the ground, it is knocked back into the
field-of-play by a player that, at the time that
the ball is knocked, has both feet within the
playing area, then the ball is not in touch.
Even if they remain in the air, if either
or both of the player’s feet are beyond the
touch line at the time that the ball is knocked,
then the ball is in touch.
Law
15 TACKLE
·
The
IRB also
reaffirmed Law 15.7, which relates to players
approaching the tackle area. The intention of the
Law is that, following the tackle, players who
play the ball must do so from “directly behind
the ball and from directly behind the tackled
player”. This
is to ensure that they do so from directly behind
the ball and tackled player and not from the
sides.
Although
the IRB reaffirmed the intent of the Law it did
not make a formal amendment to the Laws.
However, adding the word “directly” at
the two appropriate points in Law 15.7 (b) would
clarify the IRB’s intent.
Under
19 Variations
Law 20
SCRUM
·
The
IRB confirmed that, if a team cannot field a
complete team, then the both teams’ scrums must
contain a corresponding fewer number of players,
and the appropriate scrum formation described in
Law 20.1 (f) will apply.
Cheers
Dick Podmore
Chair, Laws Committee, USARRA
Attachment
Amendments and
Rulings Agreed to at the Interim Meeting of the
IRB Council
Please
note that IRB Council at its Interim Meeting has
approved the following Law amendments with
immediate effect.
Law
3.10
Amend
(d)
If a
temporary replacement is cautioned and temporarily
suspended, the replaced player may not return to
the field-of-play until after the period of
suspension.
SEVENS
VARIATIONS
Law
9 METHOD OF SCORING
Amend
1
TAKING A CONVERSION KICK
(e)
The kicker must take the kick within forty
seconds of a try having been scored.
The kick is disallowed if the kicker does
not take the kick in the time allowed.
Law
13 KICK-OFF AND RESTART KICKS
Amend
4
POSITION OF THE KICKER’S TEAM AT THE KICK-OFF
All
the kicker’s team, except the placer, must be
behind the ball when it is kicked.
If they are not a free kick is awarded to
the non-offending team at the centre of the
half-way line.
Amend
10
BALL INTO THE IN–GOAL
(a)
If the ball is
kicked into the in-goal without having touched or
been touched by a player, the opposing team has
three choices:
To
ground the ball, or
To
make the ball dead, or
To
play on.
(b)
If the
opposing team ground the ball, or if they make it
dead, or if the ball becomes dead by going into
touch-in-goal or on or over the dead- ball line a
free kick is awarded to the non-offending team at
the centre of the half-way line.
Penalty:
Free Kick at the centre of the half-way
line
(d)
If they opt to ground the ball or make it
dead, they must do so without delay. Any
other action with the ball by a defending
player means the player has elected to
play on.
Law
20 SCRUM
Amend
8
FRONT-ROW PLAYERS
(c)
Kicking-out.
A front-row player must not voluntarily
kick the ball out of the tunnel or out of the
scrum in the direction of the opponent’s goal
line.
Penalty:
Penalty Kick
Law
21 PENALTY AND FREE KICKS
Amend
4
PENALTY AND FREE KICK OPTIONS AND REQUIREMENTS
(b)
No
delay. If
a kicker indicates to the referee the intention to
kick at goal, the kick must be taken within thirty
seconds of the penalty having been awarded.
If the 30 seconds is exceeded the kick is
disallowed, a scrum is ordered at the place of the
mark and the opponents throw in the ball.
UNDER
19 VARIATIONS
Law
19 TOUCH AND LINEOUT
The
Experimental Variation introduced in 2000 excluded
the practice of support below the waist for the
Under 19 Game and the Game is played in this
manner. The
Experimental Law was confirmed in Law at the
Annual Meeting 2001.
When the Law Book was produced in 2001 the
exclusion was omitted.
Law
19 9 (k). Support below the waist.
A player must not support a
jumping team-mate below the waist.
Penalty
– penalty kick on the 15-metre line.
Please
note that IRB Council at its Interim Meeting has
approved the following Law amendment with effect
from
1st
January 2002
Law
9 A 2 (d) METHOD OF SCORING
Delete
current Law 9 A 2 (d) and replace by:
Any
player who touches the ball in an attempt to
prevent a penalty goal being scored is illegally
touching the ball.
Penalty
– Penalty Kick
Please
note that IRB Council at its Interim Meeting has
approved the following Law amendments which will
take effect at the same time as any agreed
amendments emanating from the Annual Meeting of
Council 2002.
DEFINITIONS
Delete
DEFINITIONS
Please
note that IRB Council at its Interim Meeting
approved the following Law Rulings which take
effect immediately.
(i)
The
WRU requested that an action known as “the
squeeze ball” (pushing the ball along the ground
under the body and through the legs) be made
illegal at U21 and below.
The Designated Members ruled that the WRU
were entitled to introduce a domestic variation at
U18 level and below, but not for the adult or U19
levels of the game.
Council
agreed the following interpretation 15 6 (d)
-THE TACKLED PLAYER
Law
15.6 (d) states
“A
tackled player may release the ball by pushing it
along the ground in any direction except forward,
providing this is done immediately.”
In
recent times players having been tackled or who go
to ground have done so ensuring that the ball is
underneath them, they then push the ball along the
ground and through their legs (a practice known as
squeeze ball).
On
most occasions when players attempt to push the
ball along the ground under their bodies they are
not making the ball available immediately and they
are in contravention of Law 14.1 and Law 15. 6(d).
Players who attempt the action are liable
to penalty unless the ball is immediately
available.
Unions
are requested to adopt Domestic Variations which
makes the action, referred to as the squeeze ball,
illegal for all age levels from under 18
downwards.
(ii)
The
USARFU requested a Ruling with regard to when the
ball was in touch
SITUATION
1
A
red player, in open play ahead of that player’s
22-meter line, kicks the ball up field, where it
crosses the plane of the touch line and remains in
the air. A
blue player, who is running in touch towards the
ball as it comes back to earth, jumps and lands
back in the field-of-play, crossing the plane of
the touch line in so doing.
After the blue player has jumped, but
before either of the player’s feet cross the
plane of the touch line, the player knocks the
ball with a hand back into the field of-play.
Is
the ball in touch? If yes, for completeness, where
should the lineout be awarded, and which team
should have the throw – in?
Ruling
The ball is in touch in accordance with Law 19
Touch & Lineout, Definition, fourth paragraph;
“
The ball is in touch when it is not being carried
by a player and it touches the touch-line
or anything or anyone on or beyond the
touch-line.
The
player who plays the ball is in touch. The blue
team would throw in the ball opposite the place
where the ball was kicked, the player is clearly
in touch.
SITUATION
2:
A
red player, in open play ahead of that player’s
22-meter line, kicks the ball up field, where it
crosses the plane of the touch line and remains in
the air. A
blue player, who is running in touch towards the
ball as it comes back to earth, jumps and lands
back in the field-of-play, crossing the plane of
the touch line in so doing.
After the blue player has jumped and after
both of the player’s feet cross the plane of the
touch line, but before the player lands, the
player reaches back over the touch line and knocks
the ball with a hand back into the field-of-play.
Is
the ball in touch? If yes, where should the
lineout be awarded, and which team should have the
throw-in?
If
the answers to situations 1 and 2 are different,
what would be the correct interpretation if only
one of the blue player’s feet had crossed the
plane of the touch line before the ball was
knocked back into the field-of-play.
Ruling
Play continues, the blue player who plays the ball
is not in touch when he plays the ball.
If the player had one foot in the field of
play and one foot is in touch and the ball is in
touch.
SITUATION
3:
A
red player, in open play ahead of that player’s
22-meter line, kicks the ball up field, where it
crosses the plane of the touch line and remains in
the air. A
blue player, who is running in the field-of-play
towards the ball as it comes back to earth, jumps
and lands in touch, crossing the plane of the
touch line in so doing.
After the blue player has jumped, but
before either of the player’s feet cross the
plane of the touch line, the player knocks the
ball with a hand back into the field-of-play.
Is
the ball in touch?
If so, where should the lineout be awarded,
and which team should have the throw-in?
Ruling
The
blue player plays the ball before that player is
in touch and therefore play continues.
The player is not on or beyond the touch
line when the ball is played.
SITUATION
4:
A
red player, in open play ahead of that player’s
22-meter line, kicks the ball up field, where it
crosses the plane of the touch line and remains in
the air. A
blue player, who is running in the field-of-play
towards the ball as it comes back to earth, jumps
and lands in touch, crossing the plane of the
touch line in so doing.
After the blue player has jumped and after
both of the player’s feet cross the plane of the
touch line, but before the player lands, the
player knocks the ball with a hand back into the
field-of-play.
Is
the ball in touch?
If yes, where should the lineout be
awarded, and which team should have the throw-in?
If
the answers to situations in 3 and 4 are different
from each other, what would be the correct
interpretation if only one of the blue player’s
feet had crossed the plane of the touch line
before the ball was knocked back into the field of
play?
Ruling
The
player is in touch when he plays the ball and
therefore is in touch and the lineout will be
opposite the place where the ball was kicked.
Blue throw in.
If the player has one foot each side of the
touch line and is in the air when the ball is
played, that player is in touch.
(iii)
Following a request from the SRU relating to the
temporary suspension of a
“blood”
replacement.
Ruling
·
“If
a temporary replacement is cautioned and
temporarily suspended, the replacement player may
not return to the field of play until after the
period of suspension”.
The
ruling has been incorporated in Law 3. 10
(iv)
The Canadian Rugby Union requested a ruling
relating to Law 20.1 (f) – Under 19 Variations.
“If
a team cannot field a complete team is it a
requirement that the number of players in the
scrum must be reduced?”
Explanation:
There
is some confusion caused by the wording in the
Exception, “a team
may have fewer than eight players in it’s
scrum when either the team cannot field a complete
team, or a player is sent off for Foul Play, or a
player leaves the field because of injury…”
And
The
apparent contradiction in the subsequent
requirement under Law 20.1 (f) Under 19 Variation,
that “if a team is incomplete, the scrum
formation must
be as follows: if a team is without…”
Ruling:
“If a team is incomplete, the scrum formation must
be as follows.……..” will apply.
(v)
SARFU sought a ruling with regard to Law
15.7 TACKLE – OTHER
PLAYERS.
Law 15.7 (b) states “at a tackle or in
close proximity to a tackle, other players who
play the ball must do so from behind the ball and
from behind the tackled player or the tackler
closest to those players goal line."
SARFU
understood that the interpretation of “behind
the ball” and “behind the tackled player”
meant that players could only play the ball if
they did so from “directly behind the ball
and/or the tackled player/tackler”.
Ruling:
The
intention of the Law was that players at the
tackle who play the ball must do so from directly
behind the ball and from directly behind the
tackled player.
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