Avira Premiership
• Leicester v Saracens – Semi-Final
Kiwi 7. Craig Newby, the Tigers captain of the day, was in the referee's ear. The ref, who didn't want to chat said:“You just called me Nigel; so we're not talking. Thanks."
Should have called him “Dave” - it was Dave Pearson not Nigel Owens.
A few minutes later Newby gets Sarries 2. Schalk Brits in a dominant tackle and ends up dragging Schalk backwards. In doing so he ends trapped by his own aggression with Brits on top of him and the ball trapped between. “Nigel” cheerfully penalises him for killing the ball.
When asked by co-commentator Austin Healey if it was a fair penalty Ben Kay said: “It's become the case where it always is a penalty now; so you have to adapt the way you tackle and make sure you don't land on that side.”
Nick Mullins: “I think it's because he got his name wrong.”
Soon after Tigers' hooker George Chuter gets pinged for something similar.
Ben Kay: “It's just the way the game is refereed now, isn't it? [The referees are] under such pressure to have quick ball, if you get caught in there, regardless of whether you can move or not, in all likelihood you're going to get a penalty against you.”
That's a good point by Kay which yours truly has mentioned before. Referees are penalising the underlying causes of killing the ball even if that action, in itself, is not mentioned in the laws as being an infringement.
The old age question: "How can he get out of there?"- is the wrong question now. The right one is: "Why did he do what he did so he couldn't get out of there?"
That is not a bad convention that referees have come up with. So long as they are consistent, it's one of the good ones.
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