As a rugby referee at the grass-roots level of the sport, I try, to the best of my ability, to apply the laws as they are written. What makes life difficult is when referees at more exalted levels of the game are not seen to be doing the same. How many times have I heard the indignant response to my whistle ‘but Sir, they do it on TV’
Let me give an example. Law 20.6(d) relating to scrums clearly states that the scrum-half must throw in the ball straight along the middle line. The definition of the middle line is also clearly stated in Law 20 as being…”an imaginary line on the ground in the tunnel beneath the line where the shoulders of the two front rows meet.” So how is it that time after time, and especially at international level, we see the referee, standing about one metre behind the scrum-half, blatantly turning a blind eye to the fact that the ball is being fed somewhere into the second row?
By allowing scrum-halfs to get away with this without penalty achieves two things. First, it negates the chance of the scrum being a contest between hookers for the ball, and turns it into a simple restart with the attacking side retaining the ball. Secondly, it sends a clear signal to the players that the laws are there to be broken, not obeyed.. Why have a law at all if you are not going to apply it?
So it seems to me there are two clear choices – either referees, and particularly those most visible at the top level, apply the laws as they are written, and show players at every level that the laws are what they are supposed to be, and that transgressors will be punished. If not that, then take out the law completely and re-write it. In the case of the scrum, if the ‘old farts’ who oversee the game don’t want a contest in the scrum, which seems to be more and more the case, they can simply rule that the scrum is scrapped, and replaced with a tap start giving the side in possession the guarantee that they are going to keep it.
Personally, I think that would be a travesty. Good, competitive scrummaging is an intrinsic part of Rugby Union, and differentiates it from the other code. Far better, in my book, to revert to playing by the law and having the ball actually put in straight. If referees insisted that this happens, hookers would then be forced to get back to their old job of contesting for the ball, instead of simply acting as a third prop, which is what they are reduced to doing at the moment. Maybe then we’ll be able to enjoy again the lost art of winning ‘one against the head’ and experience the joy and elation this brings to the successful hooker, his side and the team’s supporters.
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