Rugby World UK – July 2019

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Our former elite referee assesses Nigel Owens’s choice of card in the Pro14 final

THE Ulster Schools Cup
will have a new look next
season – in the form of a fresh
format for the group stage.
Teams will be separated into
four tiers, the bottom tier playing
in a separate competition. The 24
schools in tiers two and three will split
into six groups of four. Each team will
play three sides once, with the six group
winners and the four best runners-up
qualifying for the knockout stage. They
will join the six tier one schools in the

last 16, which will then be

knockout games until the

final, held on St Patrick’s Day.

More than 80 young people

from South London and Surrey

took part in a mixed ability Project

Rugby Festival at the Stoop in May.

Pupils from seven special education

schools enjoyed the sessions, delivered

by coaches from the Harlequins

Foundation, who reached some 1,

children with the project last season. To

get involved, see projectrugby.co.uk

The act of changing from defence

to attack – or vice versa – because

of a turnover of possession. The aim

is to switch as efficiently as possible.

Tackled in the air

I

T ALWAYS used to be the
case that the player in the air
was ‘untouchable’, but the
contest for possession has
climbed into the sky too. In
recent years, law-makers have tried to
set clear guidelines to protect players.
But refereeing is still no easy matter.
Nigel Owens is one of the top three
referees in the world and gets most
decisions right, but occasionally one or
two big ones get away from him. Take
the Guinness Pro14 final. In the 66th
minute, with Leinster ahead 18-10, Rob

Kearney kicked ahead and Glasgow’s

Stuart Hogg soared into the sky to take

the ball. A split-second later Kearney

arrived and sent Hogg hurtling.

The guidance on this says sanctions

start with a red card and as mitigation

is considered, the sanction descends,

depending on the severity of the

incident, how the player lands, etc.

What first strikes me is that Kearney

was never going to get the ball. He ran

straight into Hogg, who was in the air.

Secondly, Hogg rotated beyond the

horizontal, which is a telltale sign a red

card should be given. Nigel can possibly

think that Hogg didn’t categorically land

on his head but on his upper back and

neck. Nonetheless, for me, a red card

should clearly have been given.

Kearney caused Hogg to fall from a

great height and the Scot hit the ground

in a vulnerable and dangerous position.

It’s sheer luck he wasn’t seriously hurt.

Nigel and the TMO even reviewed it,

so the fact that Nigel was running or had

his view obstructed is no defence. He

simply got it wrong. It shows that even

the world’s best refs can get it wrong.

SCHOOLS

ROUND

UP

JARGON BUSTER

Transition

THE

(^) SECRET REFEREE
Coming down hard
Rob Kearney takes out
Stuart Hogg in the final