RUGBY FOOTBALL

Chronicle (Levin), 16 July 1946, Page 6

RUGBY FOOTBALL

"Full-Back")

the five-yard scrummage WHEN IT IS AWARDED £»

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There always seems to be a confused idea regarding the awardmg of serummages five yards from the goal-line. The referee just does not award a five-yard scrummage because he is in doubt as to what actually occurred. There are definite circumstances governing the occasions when he shall stop play and award a scrummage. Because so many rules have to be read in conjunction with other rules, the referee cannot at all times be right. The players and public should at least be fair, because the referee has to make his decision immediately, and he has no power to alter it except on one solitary occasion. This will be explained in a later article dealing with referees. There are five occasions when a five yard scrummage can be awarded. 1. A player is in front of one of his own team who is taking a free kick, or a penalty kick from behind his own goal-line. (Offside Law). Scrummage five yards from the goal-line, in the field of play, opposite the mark. Under the advantage rule, should an opponent obtain the ball and g round it, a try will be awarded. 2. Any

player with the ball in his possession in the in-goal is so held that he cannot ground the ball. Scrummage five yards, etc. 3. A defending player knocks on, or gives a forward pass in his own in-goal. Scrummage five yards, etc. Tne advantage ruie applies again in this case. 4. Under the off-side law, 'section (e) no off-side player shall play the ball. or in any way obstruct an opponent, or approach, or wilfully remain within ten yards of an opponent waiting for the ball. Penalty: Penalty kick awarded at the place of infringement, or scrummage where the ball was last played by the offending team, at ~the option of the other team. If the ball were last played in-goal, the scrummage shall be awarded five yards from the goal-line opposite the mark. 5. Under Law 23, which governs free kicks, if a player who has. made a fair catch is injured in doing so, and is unable to take the kick within three mmutes, the kick is void, and a scrummage shall be formed

at the mark. n the mark be'ingoal, the scrummage shall be awarded five yards from the goalline" opposite the mark. If players are on the ground and the referee cannot decide which team first grounded the ball, he shall ■ award a drop-out at the Iwenty-five. He has no power to award a five yards scrum. . . . ... If the ball is kicked, knocked, passed or carried back over the goal-line by a defending player, and there made dead by a defender, a scrummage shali be ordered at the place from where the ball was kicked. knocked, passed or carried back, whatever the distance from the goal-line. If a defending' player is physieally forced back over liis own goal-line, and there make the ball dead. a drop-out at the twenty-five is • the result. A defender with one foot in the field of play and the other foot over his own goal-line collects the ball ancl forces, it must be considered as . having the ball carried behind. Scrummage at the spot where the foot was in the field of play.

It is obvious that a scrummage coulcl not be formed if an infringement occurred next to a goal-post. For example, there is a knock-on a foot from the line and next to the goal post. It would be a dangerous procedure to form- a scrum at the spot. The referee would order the scrum to go down at a safe distance from the goal-post, but not up-field. The ensuing scrummage must take place a foot from the goal-line, hence the place would be on a line a foot from, and parallel to, the goal-line, towards the nearer touch-line. The laws concerning free kicks and penalty kicks state that the ball, after being kicked, must reach the line through the mark parallel to the goal-lines, unless first played by an opponent. A scrummage will be formed if the ball fails to reach this line. Rather a different thing occurs when one l'ree-kick, or penalty kick, is taken from behind the goal-line. The ball must reach and cross the goalline, even though the mark is in the field of play. If an attacker, however, plays the ball before it reaches the goal-line he can score a try. Should the ball, from a free kick or penalty kick taken from

behind the goal-line, hit the goal posts or bar and rebound back into the in-goal area. the decision is the same as if the ball failed to reach the goal-line. The kick must be re -taken unless an opponent scores a try. If from a penalty kick awarded for an infringement by the defenders in the in-goal. the ball hits a post or the bar, and rebounds into the field of play and is played by an attacker, the referee shall order a drop-out at thc twenty-five. The only occasion

that a penalty kick can be awarded against the defenders in the ingoal occurs when any defender illegally holds or obstructs an attacker, or q^opts any unfeir tactics. The kick shall be taken in the fiAld of play on a line parallel to the touch lines through the mark, and a goal may be scored even though the ball de.es not reach the mark. Should the referee decide that the attacker would have scored a try but for the unfair tactics, he -shall award a penalty try between. tlie- -goal posts.-