(French Rugby Club columnist and former
international referee Carl Collett this week examines how
the differing interpretations of the advantage law are
leading to on-field confusion)
As an
international team runs onto the playing field they are
under clear instructions from their coach on how to play the
game. Surprisingly, though, it seems the referee is under
similar instructions from the refereeing coach at the IRB.
Rugby
Law is not rocket science and it is not surprising that the
IRB’s coordinator for 'Referee Development' and myself - a
former international referee - have differing views on how
the advantage law should be refereed, and indeed that
referees should be told how to referee this law, but more on
that later.
The best
rule in the rugby book on the laws of the game is one little
known by rugby watchers and perhaps the least applied by
international referees. It’s the 'Law of Advantage' and if
it’s accepted as being the ‘best’ then why is our current
crop of international referees reluctant to use it to bring
back our game to its exciting best?
