RUGBY RULES

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 96, 27 April 1929, Page 7

RUGBY RULES

NEW INTERPRETATIONS

ISSUED BY ENGLISH UNION

Us FORCE TO-DAY

New interpretations of certain of the Kugby rules which have been issued by the English Rugby Union come into force to-day. In an address last evening, they were outlined by Mr. D. M'Kenzie, who also expressed -his views on some of the alterations that have been made. The new interpretations are.now part of the rules of the game and play will be governed by them. The ten yards rule, which Mr. M'Kenzie dealt with first, is now worded as follows: "Referees should whistle at once if mi off-side player approaches or remains within ton yards of an opponent waiting for the ball, and not delay until the ball lias reached the waiting player." The practice in New Zealand, said Mr. M'Kenzie, had been to give the player waiting tor the ball the opportunity of taking the ball, and then penalising the off-side player if he interfered with the play in such a way as to prevent the man waiting tor the ball making the best use of it when he receives it. He had always held that the present definition by the English Kugby Union was the correct one. The protection given to the waiting player finished, when the ball had reached him, and it was previous to that stage that the whistle should blow for the active or passive obstruction on the part of the' offside player waiting within' the ten yards. AN IMPORTANT RULING. Mr. M'Kenzie suggested that referees and players should get into their minds •what ten yards really meant. To him it appeared to be such an important thing to.be able to judge, distances on a Rugby field that, referees and players were justified'in trying in every way possible to tocus ten yards in their minds. . . "I am rather emphasising the interpretation of: the ten yards rule," continued Mr. MKenzie, "for the simple reason that if the referees interpret ,it according to the book—and I hold they have no license to vary it in any way—the whistle must blow before the ball reaches the waiting player, and if it does it is going to mark a new departure in the playing of Rugby football in New Zealand. If it teaches players that they must keep on side it will help to brighten up the game and make things easier for the referee The oIE-sidc rule is the hardest of the lot to administer, and this seems to be one of ie-?T a:! s, in wllich Hie .'duties of/ the whistle-blower can be lightened. But first and foremost referees must make up j their minds how- far a distance ten yards is,; and when that is determined upon every member of the different associations in the Dominion should interpret the rule in exactly the same way—penalise quickly and promptly the off-side player remaining within the ten yards, with the proviso that if he is not penalised he gains no other advantage . from being allowed to remain ■ there." ■ . ■ OTHER NEW INTERPRETATIONS. The following other interpretations were dealt with by Mr. M'Kenzie:-—"(I) The referee' should allow the player to put the ball into the scrummage on whichever side ho prefers."' That was a new interpretation, but the referee still had the power in exceptional circumstances to decide which side the ball should be put in. : ■ ' '■ •• "(2) A slight fumble "by a player in catching the ball should not be considered a .'knock-on, ' provided ho does not lose control .of it." .' That was a decided variation of "If the ball is actually knocked on, no matter how slightly, it must be considered a knock-on." ' V "(3) A referee should always state the offence'for which he awards a penalty kick, without waiting to be asked by the players." "I must, confess that I don't like this ruling," said Mr. M'Kenzie, "but there should be,no hardship, as far as the referee is concerned, in giving effect to it. At. the same time, it should not be the province.,of the referee- to belittle a player." ■ . :. ■'(4) An off-side player-can place himself on-side by .retiring to a position behind where a player, of his own side last played the ball, provided that the-player who .played the ball is not in touch." - "(5) Any player in the front row of a scrummage may lift his foot before the ball is,put in, provided he does not move it beyond the front line of feet of his own players." "(6) If. a.player be brought down or collared by the legs or' ankles, and falls with his arms clear, he may pass the ball, even though' it has touched the ground, or put it over the goal-line and score a: try if brought down just outside. ; If, however, he falls with the ball underneath him," he must be considered to have been tackled, as there is a' perceptible moment during which he can neither pass nor play it." . "(7) If a player carrying; the ball runs into an off-side player' of his'own team, a I scrummage should ,be awarded for unintentional off-side, unless the referee is of I opinion that it was intentional, Svhen he should award a penalty kick on . the ground of obstruction." Commenting, on this Mr. M'Kenzie said: "I must confess that this looks a little bit involved to me. The unintentional off-side is all right, but where does the obstruction come in? It can .only happen when the player with the ball runs into one of his own side to dodge a would-be tackier."

. (8) If the ball accidently touches an'opponent after being kicked, off-side players of the kicker's team are ,not thereby put on-side." That seemed to emphasise that the playing of the ball must be intentional before off-side players could be put onside. • _ "(9) An off-side player running or standing in front of another o£ his team, who la m possession of ■ the ball, thereby preventing his opponents from reaching the latter player, should be penalised for obstruction." "(10) A penalty kick is awarded, and because of an infringement by the opposing team a second kick'is allowed., . The same player' must take the second kick, but it need not be the same kind of kick as taken in the first instance." "(11) In the event of the ball not being thrown in five yards, the referee orders it be^thrown in again by the same side." ' (12) The scrummage must be awarded at the spot whence the ball was kicked, passed, knocked, or carcied back, no matter what distance from the goal-line this may be." , . . A REFEREE'S DECISION. "(13) If the referee awards a try, not •laving noticed that the flag was up fortouch, the law regarding ,'altering his decision does not apply, as the ball, having previously cone into touch, was out of

play, and anything, which happened afterwards had no bearing on the game. This does not affect the right of the referee to over-rule the touch judge's decision if, in bis opinion, the ball, or the player carrying it, had not been, in touch." "This is si peculiar twist to give to the laws of the game," commented Mr. M'Kenzie. "One law tells us that 'the referee cannot alter his decision,' yet in this case, where a try is the consideration, the referee can alter his decision if he notices that the touch-judge's Hag is up after having done so. It is true that the ball, having gone into touch, makes the succeeding .play have no bearing on the game, but the fact that the referee had allowed the play to go on carried the imputation that he had over-ruled the touch judge."