NEWS
PNRRS Policy on Referee Abuse
At the January 2016 PNRRS Executive meeting, the board members clarified their position of members being asked to referee clubs where there is a history of match official abuse. It was taken into account that the referee society is not and should not operate a disciplinary committee, as that is a function for the players unions, however given the persistence of the issue in the region, action was required to protect the interests of our members.
The document below outlines the updated policy.
PNRRS Policy Update 1 2016 – Referee Abuse
Pacific Northwest Rugby Referee Society
Updated policy on referee abuse, effective 1/1/2016 until superseded.
Despite progress being made by unions throughout the Pacific Northwest, abuse of match officials remains a significant issue both in our game and in our region.
In the Pacific NW region across all leagues, for the 2015 season, we averaged roughly one report per week of referee abuse; this ranged from over enthusiastic sidelines, through direct abuse from players and coaches, to physical confrontation between player and referee.
Nationally, this is a significant enough issue that in 2015, USA Rugby issued clear and specific guidelines to be followed by all referees in the USA on dealing with certain incidents of referee abuse.
Referee abuse remains one of the top reasons why rugby referees decide to stop refereeing, and is a major barrier to recruiting new match officials.
Updated policy:
It is clear that this is a situation that PNRRS must deal with. The numbers of incidents are too high, and in a scenario where we already have difficulty retaining competent match officials, having them retire due to actions of others is unacceptable.
However, it is also the strong opinion of PNRRS that operating a Disciplinary Committee is not the role of the Referee Society, and that any discipline of players, coaches, other officials, or teams is the purview of the leagues and unions to which the relevant clubs belong.
With that in mind, PNRRS has adopted the following policy update for incidents of referee abuse.
- 1) All incidents of referee abuse, be it verbal, physical, or any other form of abuse, will be cited by the referee society to the relevant disciplinary committee using the formal citing process in place for the appropriate DC, usually those specified by World Rugby, and endorsed by USA Rugby.
- 2) If a particular club has multiple incidents for referee abuse in a single season that are reported to the referee society and are determined to be real, the Referee Society shall consider those to be repeat infringements by the club.
- In determining what action to take, the principles of law 10.3 shall be applied.
- Where repeated infringements have been deemed to occur, the Referee Society shall, attheir sole discretion, decline to require their members to referee matches involving that club (either home or away) for the remainder of the season. The Referee Society is not disciplining the club, simply declining to put their members into a hostile or dangerous environment.
c. Such sanction will terminate at the end of the relevant season, or upon receipt from the club of evidence of practices put in place to reasonably ensure that the behavior will not recur.
d. For the purposes of administration, a ‘club’ is considered to be an entity registered as a club with USA Rugby’s CIPP system.
3) Realizing that adequate reporting of incidents of abuse is dependent information provided by the appropriate match official so that the Disciplinary Committees can do their work with full information, match officials shall be required to report incidents of abuse in the Match Report Form
a. Officials that supply inaccurate, misleading, or omitted information shall be subject to internal discipline by the Referee Society, including suspension from refereeing matches.
4) As a matter of practicality, any incidents that took place before January 1 2016 are not subject to this policy update.
Ratified by PNRRS Executive January 21, 2016
Article on Concussions and the issues with the Head Injury Assessment
Below is an article written about the issues with Concussion protocols at the elite level.
Irish Times on Traumatic Brain Injuries
As a reminder, there is no “Brain Bin” in the USA. Please review the USA Rugby Concussion Protocol and when in doubt, sit them out.
Changes to law and guidelines in immediate effect for rugby in the USA - January 29th, 2016
In a relatively unusual step, USA Rugby have issued a series of law and guideline changes mid-season, that are to be implemented immediately in all rugby played under the direction of USA Rugby.
Law Clarifications:
1 – Time at end of half or game.
Change: If there has been a score at the end of a half, and there is still time to take the consequent kick off; minor errors (such as kick not 10m) do not count as a dead ball situation, and time has not expired. There is still time to take the resulting scrum etc., as technically this is the same play as the kick off, and not a new play.
2 – Knock ons
Change:
a) if a tackling player makes contact with the ball, and it goes forward from the ball carrier’s hands, it IS a knock on.
b) if the tackler rips or deliberately knocks the ball so that it goes forward from the ball carrier, it IS NOT a knock on.
i.e. the referee is asked to adjudicate the intentionality of the ball contact by the tackling player.
3 – Conversions
Change:
1) Clarification that a team may opt not to take a conversion kick by the try scorer informing the referee.
2) If a team chooses not to take a conversion, there WILL be a kick off, regardless if the time had nominally expired.
4 – Time
Change: For questions on whether there is time available to take a kick off following a conversion. The time is considered as the time when the ball was struck. I.e. if a kick is taken at 79.59, there IS time for a kick off.
5 – clothing
Change: A Rugby Jersey is required to have sleeves.
6 – Forward pass into touch
Change: Currently 19.4 indicates that a knock on into touch results in an option to the non-offending team of a scrum or lineout. This is clarified to include ‘knock on or forward pass’
Minor law changes:
1 – law 3.5 number of players required to be front row capable plus impact on substitute numbers has been re-written for clarity.
2 – A player who is injured and unable to continue in the game as a result of foul play may be replaced by a previously substituted player. Make sure you know the difference between replaced and substituted!
3 – Medically trained personnel (non-playing) may enter the field during play to tend an injured player. ALL others may only enter with specific referee permission.
4 – if it is safe, it is OK to play advantage after a collapsed scrum. It is not OK to play advantage if a scrum player is lifted into the air in a scrum.
5 – sevens. Conversion kick now has 30 seconds to be taken
6 – Deletes a seldom used provision of repeat infringement law requiring a red card for further team repeats after a yellow card already given.
7 – faking, to get an opponent penalized is specifically out lawed. No diving in rugby. Penalty offence.
8 – FWD Pass; Now determined by whether the player’s arms moved towards the opposing dead ball line. Not hands, not ball, but arms.
9 – @ Lineout. No player may block the throw in or prevent the ball travelling 5 meters.
10 – form the scrum quickly. Teams must be ready to form a scrum within 30 seconds of a referee making the mark
11 – If a scrum wheels through 90 degrees, a new scrum is formed with the put in to the same team that threw it in originally. (Used to be turn over ball on a wheel through 90)
12 – Defending scrum half at a scrum may not move into space between flanker and no. 8.
13 – When forming a scrum, Fronts rows must interlock ear against ear.
14 – Use it or lose it introduced at scrums. Ball may be at feet of hindmost player for 3-5 seconds before it must be played.
15 – All penalty kicks awarded within 5m of a goal line are taken at the 5m line. Used to be just the attacking team moved to the 5.
World Rugby Clarification: Kicking the Ball Out of a Player's Hands
World Rugby has issued another clarification. This addresses kicking the ball out of the hands of another player. That has always been specifically prohibited when a player is attempting to touch the ball down for a try, but it was not addressed for more general situations. This clarification makes it clear – that action is illegal and dangerous and should be penalized. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mONaLz6Ry4&feature=youtu.be
The full clarification can be read at Clarification 1016
World Rugby: Dangerous Tackle Memorandum
World rugby released a memorandum on dangerous tackles a couple of days back; clarifying two aspects and reemphasizing the need to take tackles around the neck and head out of the game.
Even though they may not technically be a tackle, the following situations are to be considered as dangerous play, and acted on accordingly:
1) the “alligator roll” clear out at the breakdown, where a player removes an opponent by binding on to them and rolling off the breakdown. If the contact is above the line of the shoulders (armpits in youth rugby) it is dangerous play.
2) the “choke tackle”, where a potential tackler grasps the ball carrier high, in an effort to prevent him/her going to ground. If the contact is above the shoulders (armpits in youth rugby) then it is dangerous play.