Referees are too quick to take the easy option

I READ the match report for last week’s Hull Ionians v Tynedale game with interest. The report asked a very pertinent question, “why is a side who has got the push on in the scrum automatically awarded a penalty?”

The inconsistencies of referees at Level 4 are well documented and are discussed on a weekly basis by committee members, players, and spectators alike. Don’t get me wrong, there are some good refs out there but unfortunately, there are also those who give a penalty because they just don’t know what is happening at the scrum or because it is the easy option.

Having witnessed the referred two occurrences, week in, week out, this season I thought I would have a look at ‘World Rugby, Laws of the Game, 19. – Scrum’. I can find nothing to substantiate why a full penalty is being awarded by referees at Level 4. because one team is pushing the other back. The ball is at the No8’s feet, the scrum is square, there is no collapsing, no lifting of an opponent, no break of the bind or wheeling. All that is happening is one team is slowly moving forward at the expense of the other. Where is the break in the Law that suggests the team moving slowly forward should be awarded a full penalty? There isn’t a break in the law. This was always intended to be part of the game.

Last week, we also saw the ref tell the scrum-half or No.8 to “use it”, as per Law 19. para 26. The ball was not ‘used’ as instructed. The scrum wheeled left enabling the No.8 to pick up nearer the line and score. Under the Laws this try should have been disallowed. It wasn’t because, again, we had the easy option.

With all of the problems we have in our game, this may seem trivial. However, if we are to address the falling numbers of players and referees, we need to have a game that is enjoyable to play and watch. Something that may help with this is cutting out the massive vagaries we see on a weekly basis, in interpretation of the Laws of the game.