Jaco Peyper, on the brink of a great career in refereeing after two Super 14 matches to his name this season, answers readers' questions.

1. Name: Dominic
E-mail: domattw@bigpond.net.au 

Question: First up I think all refs this year are doing a great job in the Super 14 matches. And this is a great website. 

I'd like to get understand two things and I've looked at the IRB videos on their web site, One is the binding at the ruck. I thought a player had to be bound with an arm around another player, rather than leaning over and resting his arms on another player, like a bridge, while the ball is at his feet, wouldn't this mean the ball is out, and , two, please can you explain why the flanks on both sides of the scrum get away with hanging off the scrum rather than binding completely till the scrum is over? All flanks seem to appear to never stay bound and hanging off the props or sticking there heads up to see what's going on, something if they were bound properly they couldn't do, and because they are not bound properly can get across much more quickly to assist in defence.

What is the exact law regarding the binding in these two areas.

Thanks for your help.

Jaco Peyper: Hi Dominic

Two very real observations and that both have an effect at times on the ‘fair contest’ in the game .

* With regards to your first point:

Players actually have to support their own weight on their feet/either foot do be deemed on their feet and legally forming a ruck. Therefore we as referees should be looking to penalise players who willfully go off their feet supporting on their arms/hands/elbows to seal the ball off – effectively making it impossible for defenders to compete.

[Two weeks ago a circular to SANZAR referees made the following point: Attacking players “SEALING OFF” over their ball carrier.  With the requirements on the TACKLER to let go, please ensure that we do not lose sight of attacking players effectively killing any contest, by leaving their feet over the ball. Ed]

* Your 2nd  point on loose forwards [6,7,8] binding:

The law is quite clear that all ‘other players’ in the scrum than the front rows must bind with a full arm [from hand to shoulder] on a lock’s body.

Law 20.3 (f) Binding by all other players. All players in a scrum, other than front-row players, must bind on a lock’s body with at least one arm prior to the scrum engagement. The locks must bind with the props in front of them. No other player other than a prop may hold an opponent.
Sanction: Penalty kick

Hence the flanks need to be patrolled more accurately  by us referees ensuring that the defence stays true and affording attackers' scrumhalf gaps/space to attack in instead of running into players who got away from scrum illegally plugging the holes.

Hope the info clarifies your questions.

Jaco

2. Name: Leonard Kaplan

Question: Law 10.2 (a) states inter alia that "A player who prevents a try being scored through foul play must either be cautioned and temporarily suspended or sent off". The word MUST is used i.e. no discretion for the ref; it is mandatory to give the offender a yellow or red card.  Why do refs often fail to comply with this law? Enlightenment please!        

Jaco Peyper: Hi Leonard – famous surname in referees circles… are you related to JK?

Law 10.2 [a] dealing with intentional infringements reads: “ The player who offends must be either admonished, or cautioned or sent off. " Therefore discretion does play a role and it is not mandatory to give a yellow [caution] or red [sent off], but an admonishment [warning and penalty] is also a possible decision.  But “at a penalty try the referee thus has only the option to give the player a yellow or red card.

However a very interesting question/situation could come from this: Say for instance the referee awards a penalty try after a team collapsed a scrum and he couldn't identify only one player only, would he have to send the whole tight five off with yellow cards if he believed they all had a hand in collapsing the scrum forcing the penalty try?

Cheers, Jaco

3. Name: Chris Assmus 

Question: Middag, Mnr.

My referee manager and I have been working on my Personal Development Plan. The scrum is one of my areas for improvement. As a strategy, a few assessors have told me to create a mental checklist of 'pre-engagement' priorities and expectations (e.g.. proper binding, size of gap, etc). 

What do you look for at scrum time to ensure the possibility of a technically sound and safe engagement?

Dankie vir jou aandag

Jaco Peyper: Halo Chris.

Referees differ in their preparations, but I do believe that you need a mental checklist/structure to process all the information that goes through your mind at once at a very high tempo and under severe pressures at times… it can only help you come to a more rational decision.

Personally I believe in a basic structure as:

Give the mark, make sure hookers over it.
Crouch: Ensure both teams square and steady and at same height
Touch: compliance, on the shoulder and withdraw to gauge distance between packs at this stage.
Pause: compliance – not triggering opponents with false start movements
engage: Binding angles etc
Off-side lines. 

You can add your own notes in here, but you are definitely on the right track if you prepare this thoroughly for a game.

Cheers, Jaco

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