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That first Franks one is pretty close. If he has his hands on the ball before he comes into contact with the Stormers player on his feet then he can keep playing it. I think where he goes wrong is that he probably does let the ball go for a fraction of a second and then plays it again...

Oh right. My bad. My sense of humour is often lost on the internet too.

Most weekends I referee a colts or senior B game and then run AR for the premiers. I would say that it's pretty rare that anyone gives me grief about where I say the ball has gone out. Much more commonly its about something I have allegedly missed (ie a sneaky punch in a ruck) or something I...

Nonsense. That is the silliest, most ignorant thing I have read on GGR this year.

http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Fun:Paddy_O%27Brien%27s_Law

As someone who AR's most weekends, all I can say is that it is nigh on impossible to know exactly where the ball crossed the line, especially with the banana kicks that some players are using now to kick for touch. We do our best, but I am sure that if you had a protractor and half an hour to...

Having only watched it the once, I defer to your analysis.

I don't recall Kaplan calling that he was playing advantage immediately before the penalty. And if I recall correctly the penalty mark was given right at the spot of the ruck. Your explanation does seem a little like a post facto justification.

I would agree that 10's is closer to 15's than 7's. There is a lot more structure and forward play compared to 7's.

Stormers too good. Unfortunately without Sopoaga or Slade, the team looks a bit rudderless. I hear that Mike Delaney is coming down, so that will give us a bit more direction. I always felt he was a bit unlucky to be overlooked in favour of Cruden and Slade for the AB's back up 10.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/union-news/rebels-star-banned-for-two-weeks-20120331-1w529.html#ixzz1qkxXtbt4 Personally I think he is very lucky. I thought it was a red card on the night, and probably the worst tip tackle this season. Given what Digby got I think 5 weeks would...

Both sides are doing it.

That tackle wasn't even a penalty. Anyone else notice Jonker has given up completely on enforcing players staying on their feet? There have been some obvious examples right in front of him that he just ignored.

I recently did the NZRU rugby smart course, which they make all refs and coaches do every year, and they showed a graph detailing the number of serious neck/back injuries each year. The number has decreased markedly since the late 90's and the tackle overtook the scrum as the major cause of...

People who praise the "consistent" sentences approach, ala the NRL, need to be aware that all they are doing is shifting the power from the judiciary to the citing panel. With the NRL system, the most important factor in the process is what grade the player is cited at, which is often just as...

Great news for the Pumas. I'm very happy that the NZRU allowed him to do the job for Agentina and NZ. Can't believe that anyone would think it was a mistake by the Argies. Boggles the mind.

Generally what the refs are looking for is clean ball with no pressure. If a team gets a ball after a knock on but is constantly under pressure and has no chance to do what they want with the ball then it is appropriate to allow a few phases to see if anything develops. On the other hand, if...

That's a good theory, but in practice it's hard to officiate. What happens if red is on attack just outside the 22 and red with the penalty advantage (and trailing by 2 points) suddenly makes a break and gets a 3 on 1 overlap 10m from the try - and then red drops it with the tryline in sight...

It's a good rule that hasn't been enforced properly since . . . well, ever. It'll just take the teams some time to adjust, and then there will be a decent contest for possession at the tackle ball.

If we did that then halfbacks would just intentionally knock on instead. Makes no difference, the attacking team simply wants to make sure they get a chance at a penalty goal. Too many times teams who want to take a shot at goal lose the opportunity because they secured an "advantage", when...