Often Misunderstood

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 759, 4 September 1929, Page 15

Often Misunderstood

OFF-SIDE RULE IN RUGBY English Union Issues a Note THEKE is lio law of Rugby football that is tlic subject of more misunderstanding than arises over the off-side law. en referees have been known to misunderstand ir. for all their study ot the rules. Many players and main- more spectators do not comprehend it. Vet the penalty clauses of the off-side law are not complicated. Most of the misunderstanding arises trom the erroneous assumption that a plaver who is in tront ol the ball is necessarily off-side

Misunderstanding of the rule is com-. poo wherever Rugby is played. Only recently the committee of the English ; Mugby Union found it necessary to rc- 1 miod referees that they must control matches in accordance with the laws of the game, and to draw their attention to law 17, which provides that a plsyer on ths field of play is off-side in four cases, and in four cases only. These four are:— (|) If he enter the scrummage from his orooenents’ side; ,2» If, while the ball is in a scrummage, he "not being in a scrummage, remain in ,-r'nt of the bail 13) If he stand in front of the line-out; '"in ir the ball has been kicked or touched or is being carried by one of his own side behind him. The wording of these clauses is nol J precisely the same as in the rule, nor h the rule given in full, but it lias been simplified in the circular so that tent ion may be directed to the essential points on which the English Rugby Union wishes referees to he more careful, It will l»c noticed, too, that for he sake of parity the circular refers only to off-side on the field of play, nd not to off-side in the in-goal area, jn which scrummages are not held, but in which an attacking player can be off-side under clause (4) above. The English Rugby Union Committee has added to its circular to referees a note that when the ball is put down and played with the foot after a tackle :he referee may construe this as a scrummage for the purpose of clause 1 2) above. “A player is not off-side merely by reanon of the fact that he is in front of the ball,** says the English Rugby Union’s circular. “The practice of treating such a player as off-side must cease. That instruction is peremptory and referees must obey it, and must learn to apply the off-side rule properly. Penalty Clauses are the Crux. In the field ot play a player may bo so far off-side that he is not subject to any penalty. There is no penalty' for merely being iu front of the bhll in the circumstances set out iu clause (4) above. What does bring a player who ji off-side under the provisions ot clause (4) within the penalty clause is his playing the ball before he has been put on-side, or his approaching or wilfully remaining within 10 yards of an opponent waiting for the ball. It is possible for an off-side player who is between the opposing full-back and the goal-line to receive the ball in such a way as to put him on-sidc, and for him to score a try legally. With the aid of the accompanying diagram, we can see how this can happen, and how some other points of

tile off-side law worn out. The player At kicks the bail to an opposing player 81. Leave A 5 and A 6 out of consideration for the time being: they are not, at this moment, in the positions marked. If Bl jumps to the ball, and, instead of catching it, tips it over his head to A 4, who is not within 10 yards 81. A 4 ma.v pick up the hall and

U UL< o?» 1 l las been put on-side by Bl s intentionally touching the ball Or Bl may catch the ball aud mis-kick to A 4, who is put on-sidc by He kick. How did A 4 get in that position behind all the B players? He might have got there in a previous rush anu have stopped to tie up a boot-lace Or ne might have stopped for a few moments because of a slight injury Question of Intent. On the other hand, it one of the ii players touches the ball without meaning to do so—and the referee, remember, is the judge of intent—A4 is not put onrside. Me must be penalised, also, it he is wilfully remaining within 10 yards of an opponent who is waiting foi the ball. The penalty is a kick where At played the ball or a scrummage where A 1 is. Now let us put A 5 and AG into the plan of operations, with Bl again the player to whom At, or perhaps A2, is kicking the ball. A 5 and AG arc within 10 yards—the radius of the circle in the diagram—of 81. If thev remain there while Bl is waiting for the ball they must be penalised. But if they move out to 10 yards or more away from Bl they are not liable to a penalty, and they are put fully on-sidc as soon as Bl has intentionally touched the ball. Take another case, deleting A 5 and AG from the plan, and consider what A 4 or A 3 may do if the hall has been kicked by A 1 or A2 to 81, from whom they are more than 10 yards away. Bl takes the ball, and passes to li2, who sends it to 83. A 3 was in front, of the ball when it was kicked, but he is put on-side as soon as Bl handled it in tent ionally. We come, now to a point on wind argument can arise. If A 4 is within II yards of 83, and the ball is passed tc 83, can A 4 tackle B 3 without beinf penalised under the 10-yard clause* Referees hold that he can tackle B 3 without being penalised; they rule that lie was put on-side, for the purposes ot the laws, by Bl*s intentional playing ol the ball. They do not consider that B3*s waiting for a pass creates a fresh set of circumstances in which A 4 becomes again ofT-side. Their view is based on the well-known principle tha’ a player cannot be put off-side by ar, opponent. It is, though, a nice poinl whether or not A 4, although able l( play the ball if it comes to him from 81, has nut himself off-side again bj bis own default and made himself liabh to a penalty l>y getting within 10 yard: of B 3 and remaining there when B 3 is waiting for the ball. Most of the referees at any rate, would allow A 4 to tackle B 3 in such circumstances. But as a doubt does arise in some quarters, and the circumstances outlined do arise in actual play, it may be well for a ruling on the point to be obtained from the English Rugby Union. Works in Two Ways. Coming back to the general applies lion of the off-side rule, it may be saic that this works in two ways. When c scrum is in progress all the players ol each side who are not in the scrum musi be behind the ball. But if a man who is outside the scrumraagt gets in front of the ball and makes an honest attempt to get on-side again al once, instead of remaining off-side, he should not be penalised. In open pla a man may be off-side without incurrin/ ;» penalty. The off-side player does though, without doubt, incur a penalty if he stands in front of a line-out. o. T if he remains within 10 yards of * player who is waiting for the hall tr come to him from a player in the ot fender’s own team, or if a member of ! the off-side player’s team is play in? ; the hall. | Tt is important to remember that a player who has one foot behind the ball is on-side. A wing-forward who has one foot behind the ball may crouch over a half-back waiting: for the ball to come to him from the scrum. This is a point overlooked by manv spectators, who sometimes shout “Offside!” to a wing-forward who is on-side because he has a foot behind the ball. Unlucky is the half-back who is wanting the ball but sees it hanging in ■bo hack row of the scrum! AL.C