Is it just me - your chance to rant ....

I know everyone (well predominantly the English support) has been exercised over the Freddie Steward incident and the complex and difficult issues over the foul play laws, but what about the little issues? Is anyone else (needlessly) irritated by refs tendency to call "use it" and then not bother about scrum halves taking 10 seconds to put up a (usually) inaccurate box kick? Since when could you feed your second row at a line out?

Not the big stuff, like red cards and tackle (or otherwise) height.

Anyone else with a pet peeve? Or is it just me.

Mauls. The ball is collected at the lineout and is passed backwards, all good. The guy carrying the ball then let's go of the guy in front and then reattaches further back. Happens at 90% of rolling mauls and it's a penalty thats always ignored.

The elaborate way refs do the scrum calls. The way they emphasise keeps in the hit that the whole point was to remove.

I'll throw in a ref who doesn't realise a pen try results in a yellow card after being at the donny game today.

When a maul is formed in open play from a choke tackle (and don't get me started on that), referees don't seem to police it being pulled down. The ref calls “maul!” and the opposition proceed to immediately pull it down and then get awarded the scrum. If it was off a lineout they would get penalised pretty much every time.

Cumbrian wrote:When a maul is formed in open play from a choke tackle (and don't get me started on that), referees don't seem to police it being pulled down.  The ref calls “maul!” and the opposition proceed to immediately pull it down and then get awarded the scrum.  If it was off a lineout they would get penalised pretty much every time.

OK - I'll do it - almost all are high tackles, with an arm wrapped over the ball carrier's shoulder. Not dangerous, but still a penalty.

My other bug bear is failure to referee offside at breakdowns - the defensive line from about 3 or 4 players out always encroaches. Want to make Rugby a better running game? Err on the side of favouring the attacking side regarding offside. Probably involves using the touch judge to help in judging things that are occurring behind the referee (who will inevitably be watching the breakdown.

Ok. Referees who are one play behind on the whistle and progressively over-correct the entire game.
Ref calls a knock on but thinks he missed some interference..... sets the scrum and whistles for the other side to get a penalty (to right the interference miss).... that team kicks for lineout and ref will whistle for crooked throw on a tight call and the match descends to farce.
Matrea was terrible for this... but there are others.

Players/captains moaning to a ref about the last penalty.... fecking amateur hour that has only worked out once in a decade with tj paranara (spelling i know) confusing an aussie ref into getting a call reversed.

If you have the ref's ear for a conversation.... you don't moan about the last play.... you plant the seed for the next phase of play. If a lineout is the next play and you're both jogging over to it (make sure it's straight ref... we don't want the lifters become blockers ref.... we have to be afforded at least the opportunity to compete for the ball ref....).

Tapping and going from 5 metres out has come back into fashion. Why do teams with poor lineouts or weak scrums automatically call for a 5m attacking scrum ' just because that's the position on the field'.

Knock out rugby.... you're side is defending and you are up by 8 points or more.
Clock hits 80 minutes.....

Save yourself from injuries and just step to the side... if the opponent wants a pity score then fine.... save energy... prevent unnecessary injury.

They don't track penalty advantage which is when a player commits a penalty. They only track and quote penalty conceded. Sure player/team discipline should be the former not the latter.
Also, penalty on penalty plays should be called out more consistently. Sometimes refs will say advantage and then new advantage. If they were to say 'advantage', then 'double advantage', then even treble advantage it would call out better the more egregious acts of teams trying to just kill a phase of play?

The corner flagging defender. Wingers diving into the corner to dot down.
The winger has to ground the ball.
That is the objective of the play.
So defenders.... dive towards/for the patch of ground the ball needs to be grounded on.

Instead we have these headless chicken tackles.

Or... if you are trying to get the player out of bounds. then focus more on getting the boot onto the side line.

Defending in this area just appears to be pre-historic.

Johnny Sexton reffing games, regardless of whether he's playing or not it's always bad.

mikey_dragon wrote:Johnny Sexton reffing games, regardless of whether he's playing or not it's always bad.

He had no business approaching the officials especially as he wasn't part of the match day Leinster team (i.e. he was suited & booted, not a water boy or anything).

Scrum-halfs putting the ball in to the scrum about a foot behind the hooker's feet. Nobody ever gets penalised for this. Yet it is supposed to be a situation where the opposing hooker might be able to compete and strike for the ball themselves. Now they need go-go-gadget legs...

Journalists constantly bigging up Manu Tuilagi, despite him being an oft-injured shadow of the player he once was.

Referees inconsistent application of advantage. Some will call a knock on advantage over as soon as a player kicks possession away, other refs given exact same circumstances will call play back and give scrum etc to team.
Likewise time of playing penalty advantage, some refs(can't think of individuals) will let play advance 40 metres it seems then call play back and award pen.

Mr Bounce wrote:Scrum-halfs putting the ball in to the scrum about a foot behind the hooker's feet. Nobody ever gets penalised for this. Yet it is supposed to be a situation where the opposing hooker might be able to compete and strike for the ball themselves. Now they need go-go-gadget legs...

Journalists constantly bigging up Manu Tuilagi, despite him being an oft-injured shadow of the player he once was.

Even the commentators say it is a feed rather than a put in.

Just a quick rant about tv coverage. Why do the commentators so frequently talk over the referee? Drives me bananas.

doctor_grey wrote:Just a quick rant about tv coverage.  Why do the commentators so frequently talk over the referee?  Drives me bananas.

In addition why do many tv Commentators not bother checking who is actually on the field!

I remember watching a Bordeaux T14 home game this season in which the commentator kept calling the inside centre Remi Lamerat.

Que the camera going to the injured players in the stands. Remi Lamerat was sitting having a beer in his jeans and polo shirt.

No recognition of this SNAFU from commentators and he kept calling the 12 Lamerat for the rest of the game.
Ridiculous but hilarious at the same time.

Scrum halfs constantly dummying at rucks and not being penalised.

No 7&1/2 wrote:Scrum halfs constantly dummying at rucks and not being penalised.

almost like Matt Dawson in this video you may have seen a few times in the past???????
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_t5LzkF3wDc

https://twitter.com/RTEsport/status/1754607076620324934?t=IWyD5geinobazn4xoGZK1Q&s=19

When things are tried and get slightly confused then suddenly everyone accepts it.

If you're ahead of the kicker you have to immediately retreat until it's caught or lands. So we now have everyone using this side step of the law and alot complaining but it's an incorrect application anyway.

I will say at the very end of this the bit where they say refs shouldn't be coaching players, I actually agree with that.  How many times do we see someone go in to a ruck and the ref go no, hands off and the person then pulls away, but they have still managed to slow it down just that tiny bit.

It's up to players to know the rules, if they break them the ref should penalise and explain why not be coaching them before hand

I see the logic, but I think it helps viewers as much as anything too in knowing what the ref is looking at. As long as the refs are offering the same input (where multiple languages hinders) I quite like it.

neilthom7 wrote:I will say at the very end of this the bit where they say refs shouldn't be coaching players, I actually agree with that.  How many times do we see someone go in to a ruck and the ref go no, hands off and the person then pulls away, but they have still managed to slow it down just that tiny bit.

It's up to players to know the rules, if they break them the ref should penalise and explain why not be coaching them before hand

Possibly should just call 'ruck formed', and that be the queue to stop getting hands on the ball - sometimes the player attacking the ball might not be able to see other players committing to the ruck.