In the first of our Law’s updates here’s some commentary from James following receipt of guidance issued by World Rugby, regarding the deliberate knock on, to match officials recently;
Update from World Rugby on ‘deliberate knock on’.
There has been concern for a while that the guidance on deliberate knock on being “that the player had no real likelihood of catching the ball” has led to some issues in the way it has been managed. A player could pull off a spectacular catch and end up with a try whilst if it comes off their hand could end up in the Sin Bin. The focus of this law is to prevent the cynical knock down of the ball in open play, out of the scrum half’s hands etc not penalise appropriate interception attempts.
World rugby clarified stating Referees are asked to show good judgement when deciding if a player has a reasonable expectation of catching and gaining possession, and then in determining a sanction. There is no formula for determining a Yellow Card sanction in these situations. This last point is key – there should be no automatic A=B approach and each one should be judged on its merits. Consequently it is likely that fewer deliberate knock-ons will be given and cards issued whilst recognising it is for each match official to determine the sanction based on the merit of the particular situation.
Thank you for this James, please keep us posted on any further developments and, of course, we all await updates to ‘tackle height’ laws with bated breath.
Please all remember to show utmost respect to our match officials who are mainly volunteers and keen to keep our games on in the true spirit intended.