Super 12 semi-finals

Stats and laws including readers' questions

Whew! The semi-finals have blown past us with two clear-cut winners and brave displays by the losers. The Brumbies beat the Chiefs 32-17 and the Crusaders beat the Stormers 27-16 to set up a Final at Canberra Stadium on Saturday.

We give some statistics from the two matches, discuss some laws and see if we can answer some questions from readers.

1. Statistics:

a. Tries

Crusaders vs Stormers

Crusaders: 2
Stormers: 1

Brumbies vs Chiefs

Brumbies: 5
Chiefs: 2

b. Penalties conceded

Crusaders vs Stormers

Crusaders: 8
Stormers: 11

Brumbies vs Chiefs

Brumbies: 9
Chiefs: 7

c. Line-out throws

Crusaders vs Stormers

Crusaders: 19 (2 lost)
Stormers: 18 (3 lost)

Brumbies vs Chiefs

Brumbies: 11 (1 quick, 1 skew)
Chiefs: 16

d. Scrums

Crusaders vs Stormers

Crusaders: 9 (1 reset, 1 penalty)
Stormers: 4 (2 reset, 1 free-kick, 1 wheel)

In the first half of this match there were only two scrums, one to each side.

Brumbies vs Chiefs

Brumbies: 8 (2 reset, 1 free-kick)
Chiefs: 6

e. Free Kicks for

Crusaders vs Stormers

Crusaders: 1 (mark)
Stormers: 1 (scrum)

Brumbies vs Chiefs

Brumbies: 1 (scrum)
Chiefs: 1 (drop-out)

2. Free kick at a drop out:

The Chiefs are to drop out. Glen Jackson has the ball and seeks to pass it to a team-mate to drop out - that clever little tactic teams have which delays the drop-out more often than it bears fruit. Jeremy Paul of the Brumbies is in attendance on Jackson and grabs the passed ball.

The referee awards a free kick to the Chiefs for Paul's interfering waste of time.

OK?

Yes.

Law 13.12 Delay in drop-out

The drop-out must be taken without delay.
Penalty: Free-kick on the 22-metre line.

Where is the kick to be taken? Where Paul grabbed the ball?

No. It is taken anywhere along the 22. The kicker is allowed to choose the most convenient spot, which Jackson appeared not to know as he kicked from the middle of the line.

3. Contact with the ref:

Early in the second half, the Chiefs have the ball in a maul. The referee is to the left of the maul, the ball amongst the players on the right. The referee sets off at speed to get to the side where the ball is, which is a wise thing to do. As he comes round the back of the maul on the Chiefs' side, the ball comes back to scrum-half Isaac Boss. The referee runs into Boss from behind, casuing boss - and the referee - to stumble. The ball goes backwards and the Chiefs drive on, losing the ball forward.

The referee comes back to the scrum.

OK?

Yes.

If the ball-carrier bumps into the referee and no side is disadvantaged, play goes on. If a side is disadvantaged, the referee awards a scrum.

The Chiefs were disadvantaged but play was possible. Then they lost the ball, and the referee came back to the scrum.

That seems fair enough.

4. Off-side in in-goal?

The Chiefs attack the Brumbies' line towards the right-hand touchline.

They win a clumsy ball on the line as George Gregan battles manfully in defence. Isaac Boss gets the ball and rolls it backwards. David Hill gathers the ball, his back to the Brumbies. Players gather zestfully around. Another maul/pile thing happens, and Hill has a plunge from the bowels of the maul/pile and gets over the line. Suddenly Glen Jackson of the Chiefs comes launching in. He does it in in-goal and he launches his way into the Brumbies' bodies. He comes in from the Brumbies' side.

The referee ignores Jackson and consults the television match official about Hill's grounding of the ball.

Right to ignore Jackson?

Yes.

A ruck/maul/tackle can take place only in the field of play. Once the ball was across the line, as it was, the ruck/maul/tackle was over. There were no more off-side lines. Any Chief could come in from anywhere.

5. Samo's reach:

The Brumbies are to throw in at a line-out on the half-way line. Jeremy Paul, the Brumbies' hooker, stands statuesquely, arms up in the air, head back looking deceivingly far. Instead of throwing far he pops the ball to Radike Samo who grabs it while the Chiefs' hooker Scott Linklater has his back to Paul and is intent on supporting.

Samo catches the ball and using just one hand sets off down the touchline, shucking off Byron Kelleher and running away from speedy wing Sitiveni Sivivatu who, reluctantly, finds Samo's speed too great for him. Samo scores in the corner, the fun try of the 2004 Super 12.

Did the ball travel five metres?

How must it travel five metres?

Say Samo's feet were five metres from touch, when he caught the ball? Is that OK?

If standing five metres he reaches over the five metres and catches the ball, is that OK?

Law 19.5 HOW THE THROW-IN IS TAKEN

The player taking the throw-in must stand at the correct place. The player must not step into the field-of-play when the ball is thrown. The ball must be thrown straight, so that it travels at least five metres along the line-of-touch before it first touches the ground or touches or is touched by a player.

There it must travel five metres through the air. It is not enough for the player to be five metres from touch and reaching forward. When he catches the ball his hands must be five metres from touch.

That one was touch and go. Samo went.

6. Those split seconds:

The commentator, not known for a generous interpretation of what referees do, admitted that in the tackle they have a hard job.

a. Schalk Burger of the Stormers charges ahead and is brought to ground. Along comes Richie McCaw. He spreads his feet, bends down and grabs the ball. Adri Badenhorst of the Stormers arrives, drives into him and wobbles to the ground. McCaw gets penalised. He is told that he must come from behind, that he latched on from the side and then went around. It looks distinctly as if McCaw does a dance and that when he actually goes down to the ball he does so from the behind.

b. Richie McCaw claims the Crusaders' kick-off and gos to ground at the feet of De Wet Barry of the Stormers. De Wet Barry is behind McCaw, spreads his legs wide and goes to grab the ball. Two Crusaders arrive and drive into him.

Barry is told to get to his feet before playing the ball.

But, sir, he was never off his feet. Perhaps he deserved to be penalised for playing in a ruck formed by the arrival of the tough Crusaders. But he was never off his feet. When the falling McCaw arrived, Barry was there to block him, but was on his feet. When he played the ball, he was on his feet.

The whole thing is so touch and go. In each case the teams forfeited three points for decisions that looked too marginal. Neither player seemed to be trying to cheat or steal a march. On both occasions a case could be made that the players were playing legally and certainly attempting to play legally.

There were 35 penalties in the two Super 12 semi-finals - not at all exceptionally many. 17 were for actions at the tackle.

Should not any penalty be for something that is absolutely clear, cut and dried?

7. Spectators' off-side:

The Crusaders pass the ball to their right. It reaches Marika Vunibaka who is tackled low by Gus Theron of the Stormers. Both players fall to the ground. The first player to arrive is Marius Joubert of the Stormers, who, on his feet, puts a hand down and palms the ball back towards his side. The ball rolls back a goodly way but not to a Stormer. It arrives at Aaron Mauger of the Crusaders, who picks it up.

OK?

The commentator wonders about off-side.

There is no off-side line at a tackle. Joubert had last played the ball. Mauger was entitled to play it.

It was perfectly OK for play to go on.

8. Readers' questions:

a. Reader: If the ball bounces ON the touchline, is it a line-out or not?

Answer: If the ball bounces on the line it is out. The line is a part of touch, which means that it does not matter how thick or thin it is painted.

b. Reader: Say a player knocks and his fellow player is in front of him and plays the ball. What is it a penalty or scrum?

Answer: It could be a penalty but only if the player in front who plays the ball prevents the other team from getting advantage.

c. Reader: If you pass a forward pass to your team member but before he catches the ball you have run past the ball. Is it still considered a forward pass?

Answer: The pass is forward if it travels forward from the hands. What the payer does after he has passed has no bearing on whether the ball is forward or not.

d. Reader: Full marks to Jonathan Kaplan, who made the correct decision in the circumstances in the dying moments of the Sharks vs Chief match. But having ruled, on Kaplan's advice, the ball had been held up in the tackle, shouldn't the referee then have awarded a penalty try to the Sharks? If Mentz was prevented from grounding the ball, only two players could have prevented it: the tackler, and the second Chiefs player who dived into the melee. The tackler isn't allowed to prevent the tackled player from placing the ball - in this case, scoring the try - so if he did, his action was penalisable and certainly prevented a try. The second guy who dived into the tackle situation went of his feet, and played the ball - again, a penalisable action that certainly prevented a try. If that situation had happened anywhere else on the field, the referee would certainly have awarded a penalty to the Sharks. So why not in this case a penalty try?

Answer: Once the ball is over the line, the laws concerning the tackle, ruck and maul fall away. That means there was nothing wrong in preventing the placing of the ball and nothing wrong with going to ground to play the ball. That means that there was no question of a penalty or a penalty try.