After travels many, Mark Lawrence is given a chance to stay at home and there he is answering readers' questions.

1. Name: William Vister

Question: Ons kaptein was tydens n wedstryd gewaarshu dat sou die haker aanhoudend skeefingooi by die lynstane, 'n geelkaart aan die haker gegee sal word. Is dit korrek en onder watter reël?

Dankie     

Mark Lawrence: More William,

Die skeidsregter het twee reëls wat hy kan toepas. Die eerste is onder lynstaan reel 19.7 (c)

‘n Speler mag nie doelbewus of herhaldelik die bal skeef ingoou nie. Die straf is n strafskop op die n15m

Maar die skeidsregter kan ook reël 10.3 (a) toepas - Herhaldelike oortreding.

Dit is in Engels hieronder geskryf and soos u sal sien is die skeidsregter korrek

Law 19.7 (c) A player must not intentionally or repeatedly throw the ball in not stright.
Sanction: Penalty kick on the 15-metre line

Law 10.3 REPEATED INFRINGEMENTS
(a) Repeatedly offending. A player must not repeatedly infringe any Law. Repeated infringement is a matter of fact. The question of whether or not the player intended to infringe is irrelevant.
Sanction: Penalty kick
A player penalised for repeated infringements must be cautioned and temporarily suspended.
(b) Repeated infringements by the team. When different players of the same team repeatedly commit the same offence, the referee must decide whether or not this amounts to repeated infringement. If it does, the referee gives a general warning to the team and if they then repeat the offence, the referee cautions and temporarily suspends the guilty player(s). If a player of that same team then repeats the offence the referee sends off the guilty player(s).
Sanction: Penalty kick

Sterkte daar.
Mark

2. Name: David Lloyd 

Question: Hi,

Do you think that the role of the Television Match Official should be expanded to help the on-field referee? Current protocol restricts the use of the TMO, and do you think that a certain amount of discretion could be used when consulting. For example, it could have been used in the New Zealand Maori - England match, where Armitage scored in the corner. Would the use of a referral be allowed here, when the dubious kick (with a foot very close to the touchline) happened in the phase before?

I would also like to ask if you feel that the laws regarding scrummaging need changing, as Craig Joubert (who had an excellent game and showed why he is one of the best in the world) seemed reluctant to sanction the Maori front row. Do you feel that he was suspicious of the dominance, and maybe felt that some illegal scrummaging was causing this?

Mark Lawrence: Hello David,

Thanks for the questions. The first question on TMO is an interesting one. I am not sure where you are from but if you watched Currie Cup a few years ago, South Africa was allowed to trial the extended use of the TMO for foul play infield as well as forward passes, etc. One match took 2 hours and 10 minutes if I remember correctly, and all that happened in the Currie Cup was that our referees stopped making decisions and passed everything on to the TMO. That was the bad news. The good news is our TMO’s became very good. The coaches and spectators felt we were making a mockery of the game and wanted to go back to the ref making decisions and accepting that human mistakes would occur but were happy to accept theses as part of the game.

The decision the AR made in the Maori / England game was 100% correct;  so how now do we convince the role players to use the TMO when the assistant referee is correct and the TMO is not needed?

I believe there is scope to extend the role of the TMO but it is not just as simple as one thinks!

Regarding the second question, I agree Craig had a brilliant game but you need to save this question for when he is duty ref as I don't know what he was thinking at scrum time.

Keep well.

Mark

3. Name: Jaco Pretorius 

Question: I would like to ask quite a simple question - what constitutes a spear tackle? I personally felt that the tackle by Lee Byrne in the New Zealand -Wales test was a spear tackle, so could you explain if it was, and whether the sanction of a yellow card was correct.

Thank you.

Mark Lawrence: Hello Jaco,

A spear tackle has a few components that need to occur. The must be a LIFT, a TWIST or TURN beyond the horizontal, and a DRIVE or DROP so that the player lands on his head or shoulder. That would constitute a red card. The referee also takes note of the GRIP the tackler uses to determine if HE lifted the opponent or if it was the opponent that put himself in a precarious position by trying to keep possession of the ball.

Hope the above info is helpful and will shed more light on the Lee Byrne tackle for you.

Thanks for the question

Regards, Mark

4. Name: Bunny Bolton

Question: Have top referees now been told to watch for players in front of kicks? Putting the ball straight into scrums just doesn't work, have they now decided to look for problems at kick-offs and drop-outs?

We have twice had teams brought back for being in front of the kicker at a kick-off. Now, in Brisbane, play was stropped because a player was in front of a drop-out.

Has there been a new instruction? I thought players were allowed to be in front of drop-outs in any case.

Mark Lawrence: Howsit Bunny,

Good to hear from you again and again you are very observant! Top referees have been given instruction to watch for the big 5 which is 1) The tackler to release and roll away 2) Pre - maul formation obstruction at kick offs and at line outs 3) offside players advancing ahead of the kicker 4) Pillars aka offside by not only the defending team but also the attacking team not behind the last foot 5) Zero tolerance at scrums

The reason for this is to keep the shape of the game and fulfil the requirements of the Charter. To use your example, players were accused of too much kicking. Part of the problem was that referees were allowing offside players to advance and cut down space for counter attack! Hence the safe option was to kick. I can safely say that in my experience, this has encouraged players to counter attack and if you watched the New Zealand Maori vs Ireland two weeks ago, you would have seen a counter attack that resulted in a 95-metre try. Exciting stuff and that’s what will make spectators come and watch rugby.

Enjoy the Big 5 and look forward to answering more of your questions in the future

Kind regards, Mark

5. Name: Bunny Bolton

Question: Just another one. What is “tackle assist”? An Irish player was penalised as “tackler assist” and the undeserving Wallabies scored three points.

Mark Lawrence: Bunny,

As part of the Big 5, the tackler is required to released the tackled player, get to his feet and only then contest the ball.

In the modern game we have often have two defenders tackling the ball carrier. Often, one of these defenders doesn't go to ground and is, therefore by definition, not a tackler.

We refer to this player as the tackle assist and he too is required by law to release the tackled player, before contesting the ball.

Law 15.6 (c) applies to tackle assist and is quoted for you below.

Law 15.6 OTHER PLAYERS
(c) Players in opposition to the ball carrier who remain on their feet who bring the ball carrier to ground so that the player is tackled must release the ball and the ball carrier. Those players may then play the ball providing they are on their feet and do so from behind the ball and from directly behind the tackled player or a tackler closest to those players’ goal line.
Sanction: Penalty kick

Keep well,
Mark

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