Over the past few months, retired referee Nigel Owens has been giving detailed but clear explanations of various contentious refereeing decisions.
Rugby can often be overly complex, even for an experienced fan, and at times - particularly at the ruck and scrum - it can even seem as if the referees are not 100 per cent sure of their calls.
Rugby’s complexity and the vastness of its laws became abundantly clear during Ireland’s Six Nations clash with Italy.
In a much talked about moment, Italy were forced to settle for uncontested scrums after their starting hooker had gone off through injury and his replacement was red carded.
When a team forces the referee to call for uncontested scrums, they must then take an extra player off, meaning Italy were down to 13 men. This is to prevent teams from feigning injuries if they are getting beaten up in contested scrums.
Below is a clip of Nigel Owens explaining the rule in greater detail, and giving his own experienced view on the situation. (He speaks about it at 2:45.)
“So maybe it is worth looking at the directive and protocol, that in situations like this where the side are clearly not trying to take advantage of uncontested scrums, where it clearly is unavoidable, maybe it is worth looking at.”
He also gives his insight into Alex Dombrandt’s try at the weekend against Wales, where Nigel Owens believes there was an infringement from England and the try should not have been awarded.
Following Scotland’s victory over England in the first round of the Six Nations, fans and pundits alike argued over the decision to award Scotland a penalty try following an illegal charge down from Luke Cowan Dickie.
Nigel Owens gave an excellent run down of the situation which we also reported on at the time.
Below are two more Nigel Owens breakdowns. One covers a Finn Russell yellow card from round two of the Six Nations, the other looks at a Springboks try from last year’s Rugby Championship.
The growth of the game is the number one priority for World Rugby. Unfortunately the complexity of it, which is highlighted by these often confusing on-field decisions, can sometimes push people away from the sport.
In defence of those in the charge of the game, they are quick to change laws that detract from the sport, and they are always looking to add new rules to improve and make rugby more watchable.
Rugby will always be complicated to a certain extent given the logistics of the game; thirty players on the pitch at one time, the physicality, being allowed to use both hands and feet etc.
The goal should be to constantly strive for a balance between changing laws that will improve the level of entertainment which rugby provides, while also keeping its integrity and its core values.
See Also: World Rugby Announce That Hurdling Is Not Allowed After Controversial Super Rugby Try
