The Laws of rugby football are, in a sense, a compendium of failure. Somebody does something that looks wrong  or not quite kosher or causing an unwanted effect and that becomes law. This has happened now with deciding the end of a match, after the incident which ended the Wales-France encounter.

Wales had scored and got themselves to 26-20. There was great excitement. Could Wales do again what the did against Scotland - play on and on in jury time and score the winning points?

The came seemed heading for a climax.

Instead of a climax there was a damp squib. Frédéric Michalak of France kicked off along the ground and into touch just short of the 10-metre line. The referee blew the final whistle.

Blowing the final whistle was a reasonable thing to do; after all kicking the ball into touch is not an infringement. Kicking it into touch wrongly is also not an infringement; often you see a player, knowing the time is up, kick the ball out on the full outside of his 22 and all that happens is that the final whistle goes.

The Welsh were stunned at this disappointing end, and they asked the IRB's body which deals with the laws to rule on the matter.

It is a ruling, not law, but has the effect of law. The ruling suggests that there will, from now on, be a sanction against the Frederic Michalak action.

The Designated Members have decided that deliberately kicking the ball out in the wrong sort of way is an infringement. This is a bog ruling, which should evoke some told-you-sos from the disappointed Welsh.

Their ruling is as follows:

Request from the WRU [the Welsh Rugby Union]

The WRU request a Ruling related to time at the end of a match:

The request for a Ruling arises from the ending of two recent international matches and is in relation to the way a restart takes place following the referee’s communication that it is to be the “last play” of the match.

If the ball is kicked directly out on the full from the restart it should be left to the referee’s discretion to decide whether:

(a) If Law 10.2 (a) Intentionally Offending has occurred
(b) If Law 13.8 Kick offs/ Restarts has been fully complied with.

Observation:
The Laws relating to Kick Offs/Restarts for 15-a-side matches would benefit immensely from the variation to Law 13.7, 13.8 and 13.9 currently operating for seven-a-side rugby, which are quite specific, in that, it is a free kick to the nonoffending
team should a team infringe the above.

Ruling of the Designated Members of the Rugby Committee

The Designated Members have ruled that if there has been a score towards the end of the game and there is time for the kick off to take place but time will expire immediately after the kick and the kicker:

• Does not kick the ball ten metres
• Kicks the ball directly into touch
• Kicks the ball dead on or over the opponents touch-in-goal or dead ball line

The referee will offer the non-offending team the options provided by Law 13.7, 13.8 and 13.9 respectively and the match continues until the ball next becomes dead.

The Laws referred to in the ruling are as follows:

Law 13.7 KICK-OFF OF UNDER 10 METRES AND NOT PLAYED BY AN OPPONENT
If the ball does not reach the opponent’s 10-metre line the opposing team has two choices:
To have the ball kicked off again, or
To have a scrum at the centre of the half-way line and they throw in the ball.

Law 13.8 BALL GOES DIRECTLY INTO TOUCH
The ball must land in the field of play. If it is kicked directly into touch the opposing team has three choices:
To have the ball kicked off again, or
To have a scrum at the centre and they have the throw-in, or
To accept the kick.
If they accept the kick, the line-out is on the half way line. If the ball is blown behind the half way line and goes directly into touch, the line-out is at the place where it went into touch.

Law 13.9 BALL GOES INTO THE IN-GOAL
(a) If the ball is kicked into the in-goal without having touched or been touched by a player, the opposing team has three choices:
To ground the ball, or
To make it dead, or
To play on.
(b) If the opposing team grounds the ball, or if they make it dead, or if the ball becomes dead by going into touch-in-goal or on or over the dead ball line, they have two choices:
To have a scrum formed at the centre, and they throw in the ball, or
To have the other team kick off again.
(c) If they opt to ground the ball or make it dead, they must do so without delay. Any other action with the ball by a defending player means the player has elected to play on.