Confusion continues among rugby’s custodians and lawmakers. None who regulate how the game is to played seem to know if they want rugby to be a popular sport or a safe sport.
Every week, among rugby folk, the talk remains divided on the issue of what constitutes a yellow or red card. Equally referee interpretation of the laws.
How can so many match officials interpret the same thing so differently?
Former England international turned commentator Brian Moore was spot on in a column urging referees to apply the laws at scrum time, instead of trying to coach the front row on how to scrum.
Ditto, those referees who allow infringements to go unpunished in the name of game flow and whose decision making is also influenced by whether the offence is committed in the second 20th or 78th minute of a match. Too often the same offence is only penalised in the 78th minute.
Give the rugby public, who invest emotion, finance and time, a contest that is not reduced to a lottery in player numbers because of match official interpretation.
Rugby analysts Nick Mallett and Robbie Kempson, on Saturday, and Schalk Burger and Victor Matfield, on Monday, were consistent in their damnation of match officials, but they were also exhausted that every post-match analysis is dominated by indifferent match officiating and absolute confusion as to what constitutes foul play.
Former Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer used to say ballet was a contact sport and that rugby was a collision sport. Meyer was emphatic that every player was aware of the risks when running into another player.
Yes, there has to be an emphasis on player safety, especially with regard to the head area, but for every match official who lauds a player for the perfect hit in contact, another hauls out a red card for exactly the same perfect hit.
It is making for a frustrating viewing experience, and it has been so for some time.
Referees are coaches and medical experts when all I want them to be is a referee who applies the law accurately and doesn’t interpret it.
The Television Match Official situation is out of hand, as is the continued interference from the two touch judges.
Once again, there is no consistency and home broadcasters have way too much influence in what visuals they present the TMO. The same collision can look a lot different, depending on the angle and the speed at which it is played.
Decisions are being made on a near freeze-frame and super slow motion, which in no way resemble real time.
If you slow it down enough, every try-scorer looks like he has lost control when placing the ball.
Rugby’s laws have always been too complicated, when rugby should be a simple game to play and certainly a simple game to understand when watching it played.
Meyer used to say that if a referee turned his back on the game, looked at the grand stand, blew his whistle and turned around and awarded a penalty to one team, the referee could find something technical as an offence to vindicate the decision.
Which brings me to the issue of player safety and match official interpretation. Over the weekend we saw elbows to the head go unpunished in some matches and chest high tackles resulting in players being carded and sent off in other matches.
It was a shambles watching the lack of consistency among the match officials in the United Rugby Championships and the Six Nations. I then watched the Currie Cup and Varsity Cup in SA and the referee interpretation was very different.
It is a mess, especially with the number of matches that play out with one team having a numerical disadvantage because of sending offs.
The sport would be better off if it were a given that 15 would play 15 for the duration of the match. Let the individual be sacrificed to the bench at that moment (to face the wrath of the disciplinary committee on Monday) and allow a new player into the game.
Give the rugby public, who invest emotion, finance and time, a contest that is not reduced to a lottery in player numbers because of match official interpretation.
Rugby doesn’t need sanitisation; it needs sanity and simplicity in how the laws are determined and how the game is played.
Mark Keohane is the founder of Keo.co.za, a multiple award-winning sports writer and the digital content director at Highbury Media. Twitter @mark_keohane
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