Referees to let rugby run free once more
Wayne Smith
JUST when Australian Super Rugby coaches were about to switch to more conservative tactics because of the way the breakdown is being refereed, SANZAR referees boss Lyndon Bray has promised a course correction by whistle-blowers.
After the attacking extravaganza that was the 2010 season following the IRB's directive to referees to come down hard on tacklers attempting to slow down the ball by not rolling away from the ball carrier, the early rounds this year have seen a far more ferocious contest at the breakdown.
Queensland, arguably the most entertaining side in world rugby last year, was so effectively ambushed by the Force and the Waratahs in the first two rounds that coach Ewen McKenzie abandoned the running game and switched to a field position emphasis against the Brumbies in Canberra on Saturday night.
All the stats suggest the Brumbies should have won easily. They scored four tries to one, made 11 linebreaks to two, carried the ball 140 times to 42 and were in possession for a total of 22 minutes to the Reds' 10.
Yet, despite all that, the Reds spent 55 per cent of the game in the ACT half, allowing Quade Cooper to shoot for goal from nine of the 12 penalties Queensland received. The outcome was a historic 31-26 victory to the Reds, their first Super Rugby win in Canberra.
It was the second successive match in which the Brumbies did all the attacking for no result, following their stunning loss to competition newcomers the Rebels the week before when Danny Cipriani kicked Melbourne to victory.
Statistically, rugby appears to be retreating to where it was in 2007, the year of the last World Cup, when it was so hazardous for teams to attack without conceding penalties that the safe play was to hoist a high ball and pressure the catcher. The Bulls won the Super 14 employing these negative tactics, and provided a blueprint for the Springboks' subsequent World Cup triumph.
From an entertainment standpoint, both the South Africa-England final and the overall tournament were the worst in history, yet it was not until last season that the rugby world got around to rewarding positive rugby.
The results were apparent after only three rounds of the Super 14. By that stage, 120 tries and 1192 points had been scored, with 13 instances of teams claiming a bonus point for scoring four or more tries. Admittedly, the initial refereeing crackdown on tacklers did lead to some blow-out scores in the early rounds.
This year, despite the admission of an extra team, only 87 tries have been scored in the first three rounds, a figure more attuned to 2007 (73) than last year. So far, only the Waratahs with 14 - seven of them against a stage-struck Rebels side on debut - have a double-digit try count, compared to five teams with 10 or more at this stage last year.
But relief is on the way, with Bray revealing a SANZAR directive would be sent today to all teams alerting them of a shift in refereeing emphasis. "We do need to refocus on the tackler by about another 25 per cent," Bray said. "We've probably dropped our guard a little in that area."
But he said an even bigger issue was how the "jackal" - the first defender to arrive at the tackle - was being refereed.
On one hand, Bray said, jackals regularly were being told by referees to take their hands off the ball when, in fact, they were entitled to contest it.
Conversely, referees also were allowing them to get so low over the ball that they were effectively sealing it off.
