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Manu Tuilagi smashes Tom Williams


Top14 player imposter!


JDV smashed by Benoit August


The Northampton Saints 30m scrum!


Bastareaud huge hit on Rory Lamont


All Blacks skills - Pt 2 In the backyard


Trinh-Duc sets up Harinordoquy try


Wales vs England 1999


Greg Holmes great hit on Francois Louw



Friday, July 01, 2011

Friday Funnies - The Beast penalised for dangerous play

Referee Bryce Lawrence came in for a lot of criticism after his handling of the Crusaders vs Sharks Super Rugby game last weekend. Here's a quick clip of one of his more puzzling moments.

The Crusaders blew the Sharks off the park in the second half, so it wasn't a case of Lawrence necessarily influencing the outcome of the match. Having said that, there were a few decisions that had some of the players, fans at home, and even the New Zealand commentators scratching their heads.

This was one such decision, as the Sharks packed down for a scrum, and were blown up with a full arm penalty before even making contact, for dangerous play. The Sharks did well not to kick up a fuss at the time, but Lawrence has since taken a lot of flack for the amusing call.

Former Test referee Andre Watson said there was no doubt that the decision was absurd, but has tried to explain what Lawrence was more than likely thinking.

"We have been trying for the past two seasons to penalise teams in the scrums that deliberately shift the point of contact. It's usually the defensive scrum that moves slightly to the side and tries to prevent the attacking scrum from getting a right shoulder. That is what Lawrence wanted to do," he said.

"I don't know why he used those words, but it was incorrect and did not make sense. I'm also not sure whether the Sharks would have shifted on their own throw-in."

Referee boss Lyndon Bray has said that Lawrence had consistently produced the best refereeing performances over the past six months, so he has been appointed for the final. This weekend, Jonathan Kaplan will ref the first semi final, between the Reds and the Blues, while Craig Joubert will manage the game in Cape Town, between the Stormers and the Crusaders.

This clip, while not technically a funny, is rather bizarre and some of you had asked to see it again, so here it is. There's also a bit of a discussion included, from Kiwi rugby show Reunion.

Time: 03:02


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34 Comments:

  • FIRST. never done that before. not good reffing.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at July 01, 2011 7:17 pm  

  • its the hookers arm moving. not the prop. watch closely

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at July 01, 2011 7:20 pm  

  • while watching this live after the first 30 seconds I had a feeling that the ref would be pretty strict. needless to say the mountain that the sharks had to climb prior to this match was a pretty tall order and the ref did not make it any easier... the early penalties in particular, (this one and the terblanche one) were so outragous that it did seem to take the wind out of the sharks. the handeling errors and turnovers were also a huge problem which in my opinion where a result of the pressure created by the saders once all the momentum was in their favor. I do believe that a neutral ref should be in charge in crunch games and I hope that Jobert this weekend does not prove this point by either being partial to either team. Really looking foward to this weekend. i think the bulls would have been a better match up for this semi.
    - me

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at July 01, 2011 7:38 pm  

  • Penis

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at July 01, 2011 8:30 pm  

  • I don't understand... what did he do?

    By Anonymous JAMIE, at July 01, 2011 8:33 pm  

  • Luckily we destroyed the Sharks so the ref didn't have much of an impact. But I do agree about neutral refs. I don't see why you wouldn't have one.

    By Anonymous Anonymouse, at July 01, 2011 8:34 pm  

  • Wot?????

    Dont get it!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at July 01, 2011 8:47 pm  

  • Well, I still prefer an ocasional penalty for no obvious reason above some 10 minutes of scrum collapses and resets per match.

    And in my opinion it's still not as strange as that ref that gave both hookers a yellow in that French game last year (I have seen that clip here on RD somewhere).

    By Anonymous Guy, at July 01, 2011 8:54 pm  

  • Haha what on earth is happening to rugby? I thought that penalising some great tackles was enough but I guess no...
    The refs and the IRB's quest to ruin the sport is underway mates...

    By Anonymous Juggernauter, at July 01, 2011 9:08 pm  

  • hmmm more like crusaders scrum

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at July 01, 2011 9:14 pm  

  • and kiwi reff

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at July 01, 2011 9:14 pm  

  • What a pile of shite, also refs are too long doing the crouch, touch, pause, engage

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at July 01, 2011 9:59 pm  

  • schalk brits wouldn't have done that

    By Anonymous b venter, at July 01, 2011 10:16 pm  

  • What a joke. The game is slowly being destroyed. Nothing dangerous there.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at July 01, 2011 10:41 pm  

  • this is as bad as all the rules 'protecting' the quarter back in football and 'policing' the tackle. The game is going backwards with nit picking like this. Be better SANZAR and IRB.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at July 02, 2011 12:04 am  

  • In an effort to overcome the problem of collapsing scrums, it seems as if the 'higher ups' have put their heads together and said:
    "We need a way to address this problem without showing the world that we actually have no fucking idea about the complexities of scrummaging... Hang on a second, lads, I think we've cracked it... Let's just stop the scrums from happening in the first place. Winner!"
    Hence this laughable bollocks.

    By Anonymous Marc, at July 02, 2011 12:32 am  

  • Maaan that is the most dangerous play I think I've ever seen......

    By Blogger Alexander, at July 02, 2011 12:32 am  

  • I really have a feeling that it won't be long before the scrum is obsolete as a competitive fixture in international rugby.
    I can understand (am ex-hooker) the risks that the IRB are trying to eradicate but they are going about it in the wrong way; that is not to say I have the answer, just that it is plainly obvious that the "crouch, touch, pause, engage" saga is not working. I get the impression that things are tried out without the input of players, which would to me seem the most obvious first point of contact, and as a result people get frustrated and annoyed.
    I'd like an honest discussion as to what should be done. What should the referee say? How should the scrum go down? Is the scrum really worth hanging on to that much?
    I've said enough...
    ...thoughts?

    By Blogger Pether, at July 02, 2011 12:48 am  

  • What should the referee say?
    Nothing, he should blow his whistle.

    How should the scrum go down?
    Head to head with a three-man front row.

    Is the scrum really worth hanging on to that much?
    Yes, it's the foundation from which rugby is played. The most important part of the game, still.

    By Blogger Disco, at July 02, 2011 1:31 am  

  • What the fuck is this? If rugby fans have no idea what's going on how does the IRB expect casual fans watching the 2011 RWC to be attracted to this sport that seemingly has no codified rules. Really hope IRB/referees read RugbyDump or else they are completely out of touch.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at July 02, 2011 1:35 am  

  • When you see the title of this post, you expect a big tackle, a spectacular tackle. But this... ridiculous.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at July 02, 2011 5:20 am  

  • Imposible to tell what was happening there. But "The Beast" does love to try and stick his head in random positoins to get head to head contact on the engage or force the opposition TH to go in at an angle to avoid it.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at July 02, 2011 10:12 am  

  • To second anonymous.. how could he mistake the beast for du plessis? Quite a colour contrast..

    By Anonymous gf, at July 02, 2011 11:30 am  

  • red card and death sentence, no question about it.

    By Anonymous Jonno, at July 02, 2011 12:29 pm  

  • that has to be one of the most dangerous things i've ever seen on a rugby pitch

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at July 02, 2011 12:38 pm  

  • While I couldn't see the "dangerous play" in question. I think this is the right approach, whether the particular decision was correct or not. It's no worse than multiple scrum collapses and the referee just picking one of the two front rows at random to penalise. Surely it's better to cut off the issue before a potentially dangerous scrum collapse if someone is cheating. It's like binding on the arm, twisting and the other host of methods front row players use to try and gain an advantage - it should be penalised whether or not the scrum collapses but rarely is. It's the only way to stop them doing it and move back to a fair contest within the laws of the game.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at July 02, 2011 1:44 pm  

  • its a foul. its against the law. the ref was rught so some people should just get over their rugby ignorence

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at July 02, 2011 2:02 pm  

  • 2nd anonymous:

    Penalty was against Beast.
    Bismarck Du Plessis arm, raised up because he was pointing that his head was already in contact with other's hooker one.

    You can hear Bismarck saying "he is touching yet!"

    Rules say front rows can't come in contact before the "engage".

    But if you're a good referee, since you've spot the mark, and allowed the team to engage from that distance: blow your whistle, ask sorry for the 2 front rows are too close (your mistake), and reset the scrum.

    By Blogger Madflyhalf, at July 02, 2011 2:30 pm  

  • i agree with the anonymous a few above.whats the point in waiting for the scrum to take place,and then penalising them for exactly the same thing?at least this way it saves time
    david

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at July 02, 2011 8:31 pm  

  • Something has to be done about the scrums, endless resets are bad for players and spectators. How about going back a couple of decades and get rid of the engage. Have both tight 5s bind over the mark make sure they are set and steady let the wings and 8s get in there positions then tell the scrummy put it in, as soon as the ref says put it in the packs are allowed to shove. If the scrum moves and twists thats just tough melons on the scrummy its up to his pack to try and control the scrum. The superior pack will have used scrum techniques not just weight and quick reactions to win the shove. If anyone pops there bind as long as they arent in any danger again tough melons no one goes up unless they have lost the contest.

    By Anonymous Fastmongrel, at July 03, 2011 10:24 am  

  • It's kinda like a false start in american 'football' I guess?

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at July 03, 2011 9:14 pm  

  • that presenter is such a smug bastard

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at July 03, 2011 11:22 pm  

  • What a joker. I'm a loosehead and some coaches have told me before to move my head in line with the opposing tighthead's so he has to worry about getting inside my head, not getting a big hit on.

    Quite often, refs notice because our heads are basically touching. I've never been penalised as long as I didn't do it again. It's probably illegal, but definitely not dangerous.

    I'm not even sure it's advantageous, because it forces the tighthead to drive in on the hooker - exactly what I want to avoid.If I'm square, it's also easier to open up the tighthead's outside shoulder, which is the main aim.

    By Anonymous Ian M, at July 04, 2011 2:10 pm  

  • Possibly the most dangerous act committed in the history of mankind.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at July 07, 2011 12:23 pm  

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