Individual referees to determine state of play

CONFUSION REMAINS over the tackle law interpretation as Celtic Rugby chief executive David Jordan confirmed no edict will be handed down mid-season, despite the IRB instructing referees to adopt a stricter approach since November.

The English Rugby Union supported the new approach this week but it now appears that each match for the remainder of the Magners League will be refereed according to the interpretation adopted by individual referees.

Tomorrow’s meeting of Munster and Leinster in Limerick is being adjudicated by Englishman Andrew Small.

“We will be looking at a number of things at the end of the season,” said Jordan. “This includes the change in Law 3 with regards to the number of props in match-day squads. Increasing squads to 23 will be discussed at board level, so will the tackle interpretation. Our view is we don’t make changes mid-tournament.”

It is also believed a coherent message will be relayed to all eight groups of officials in charge of the Heineken Cup and Amlin Challenge Cup quarter-finals to avoid further confusion.

Munster coach Tony McGahan and his Leinster counterpart, Michael Cheika, are braced for the new interpretation to be adopted, as happened midway through the Six Nations when Ireland suffered at the hands of South African referees’ viewpoint that players were not adequately releasing the ball-carrier in the tackle.

IRB law 15.6.c states: “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.”

“I think it will be better for us,” said Cheika. “We are looking at it from a positive attacking viewpoint, not a negative defensive perspective. If you tackle a guy to ground, you let him go. We will have to change our approach a little bit. It could be clearer but we will deal with it and move on.”

The IRB have refused to comment on specific objections from the Irish management that the tackle interpretation was altered mid-Six Nations by the arrival of Southern Hemisphere referees, instead stating that IRB referees’ manager Paddy O’Brien reminded all officials at a high-performance meeting in London last November of their obligation to ensure a stricter application of law 15.6.c.

“It’s very different to an international Test match where you probably get a sit-down, face-to-face meeting (with the referee) and that’s common practice whether it’s two days before or the day before,” said McGahan.

“So you get the opportunity to change things as to the referee’s interpretation but we don’t get that opportunity in the Magners League and the Heineken Cup, you might get five or 10 minutes before the game to have a chat. But obviously you’re doing your work on the referee, collating his game, making sure you understand his points of reference that he likes to referee the game. So that work is done ourselves in face-to-face contact.”

Official recognition of the stricter law interpretation by the Guinness Premiership seems to indicate it will happen across Europe and possibly the Magners League before the season ends.

The IRB are attempting to speed up the game and improve the entertainment value to maximise attendances.

McGahan added. “We’ve still not been given any official direction so we need to study the trends of a referee very closely, and see if there’s any small window before the game to talk to the referee in an official capacity . . .

“You’ve got to make sure you’ve done your work on the referee and understand where he’s refereeing the game from. That’s the way it is, it’s just going to be a week-to-week situation.”

As a result, Munster and Leinster have altered their approach accordingly.

“You just need to adapt . . . Whoever is refereeing, and what interpretation they are working with, it differs from week to week. Whether you get a Welsh referee, French, Scottish or Irish, English or South African, they all have different ways of bringing it into play. . . Where they come from influences that. You saw that in all our games this year . . . You just have to make sure, that’s a big thing for the players,” concluded McGahon.