C’mon refs: Get ’em on side
Hawk-Eye, back two metres, one metre, one centimetre — it’s up to the officials to keep defences back
Here’s to Agustin Pichot, World Rugby’s vicechairman, for recognising why we aren’t seeing the scintillating attacking play at this World Cup compared with the last one. Damn near everyone is standing offside.
His solution is interesting but in the meantime the answer is simple. The match officials must police the offside line at the breakdown because for whatever reason they aren’t doing it and neither do they seem to be worried about what’s happening at said breakdown.
The latter has all the law and order of a 1860s Wild West border town. Players are entering the ruck from all sides and angles. Although officials scrutinise the legality of every contact, it’s a free-forall on the ground.
Namibia hooker Torsten van Jaarsveld had the game of his life against the All Blacks at Tokyo Stadium but how he won a penalty after going off his feet at the breakdown and being off side at the same time — all in front of referee Pascal Gauzere — made as much sense, well, as Sam Cane later being penalised for being off side.
If Cane had transgressed by creeping past the last foot at the breakdown then everyone at this tournament has. Constantly. The officials are clearly taking a handsoff approach in order to let the game flow but the game can’t if defences can pick the pocket of the man receiving the ball.
What we’re getting, instead, is either
breakdown after breakdown as the ball carrier cuts back into the defence, or dropped ball. The humid conditions are not helping with the handling but either way it’s not great viewing.
And it’s a formula all of the All Blacks’ opponents will take from here on. Ireland, in particular, constantly push the off side line and flop all over the opposition’s ball to slow an attack. They were comfortable in the rain against Scotland but gasping in the heat against the style of Japan and if they are the All Blacks’ quarterfinal opponents they’ll be doing everything they can to slow the tempo.
Coach Joe Schmidt complained about a
few off side penalties going against his team during the defeat to Japan — one of the best games of the tournament. Strangely, he claims to have received an acknowledgement that Angus Gardner transgressed in awarding them (assistant Jerome Garces called two of them) — possibly because such marginal calls haven’t been made at any other time in Japan.
The answer is simple, and it’s not necessarily tied to the new whiz-bang technology suggested by the progressive Pichot. Pichot told the UK Daily
Telegraph: “We have the technology so let’s use it as they do in NFL.
“The referee has too much to do working out what is going on at the ruck while the touch judges have a string of 12 players right across the pitch to judge on.
“Let’s use the technology and that will soon sort it. Within five games, players will know HawkEye is watching them and they will stay back. That is my view.
“Or perhaps we should introduce a law that says players should be two metres behind the rear foot. We have seen at this World Cup that the space is at a premium. It is too defensive for my own personal liking. We have got to find a way to free it up.”
Two metres, one centimetre. It’s up to officials to keep defences back and nothing will change until they do. They need to find the will before the
way.