Six Nations referees have been instructed to clamp down on several issues ahead of the opening weekend.
At the top of their lists this year is said to be crooked feeds into the scrum. Whilst the rule-book has always said the ball must be placed into the scrum perpendicular to the direction of said-scrum, rugby fans will know this is almost never the case.
Nigel Owens, 2015 World Cup final referee and the man in the middle for France vs Ireland on opening weekend had this to say speaking to the Mail Online:
“We will be stronger on crooked feeds at the scrum… Everybody wants the ball put in straight at a scrum – it does not need to be 50-50 down the middle, but it needs to allow both hookers to strike for the ball.
“If the ball goes straight into the second-row’s feet we will be giving a free-kick.”
Another issue Owens drew attention to was the matter of scrum halves using their hands to roll the ball back out of a ruck whilst the ruck is still active.
“If they use their hands they could concede a penalty or referees will say the ball is out and the ruck is over, so the opposition can come round.”
One final issue to be addressed is the response to backchat from players. Owens has traditionally been a strong purveyor of making sure he is respected on the pitch, and is seemingly hoping other referees start doing the same.
“Protecting rugby’s values is important, so we will deal with backchat as we are aware of it creeping into the game,”
“We can march teams back 10 metres, reverse the penalty decision, or even show cards – although I would probably only sin-bin someone who has retaliated to foul play and then asks for a yellow for the other player.”
The Six Nations gets underway at 2.15 on Saturday, with Wales vs Scotland.
