Rugby must clean up its laws, rid itself of referee interpretation

Rugby is in trouble. And the reason it’s in trouble are due to the laws.

You know you’ve got a problem when there are different interpretations of the laws of the game from one hemisphere to the next. I mean, really, how is that even possible?

How can the same set of laws be blown differently in the north and south? How can one referee blow the whistle for something, and another referee not see the same infringment, mistake or error? The laws are the same.

You know there’s a problem when the two teams have to have a pre-match meeting with the referee to discuss how he is going to handle certain areas of the game. Seriously, how can this be? A law is a law and rules are rules.

Rugby needs to clean up its laws very quickly. Fans are getting more fed-up by the day, and coaches and players are at their wits’ end.

There are a few areas that I believe need clarity and fixing as soon as possible, the biggest being the tackle.

The principle of the tackle is to stop momentum and too often the tackler is being punished for doing what he is supposed to do, for applying a key principle in rugby. 

All the focus has shifted to the tackler and he is being punished for the slightest error or mishap, be it in judgement or technique.

But, what about the ball-carrier? He can do just about anything. He can run upright, dip, fend off, but one wrong call by the tackler and he’s in the bin – a big game-changer, every time.

How is it fair play when one team – the attacking team – has the advantage?

What is a player of Eben Etzebeth’s size supposed to do to tackle someone of Herschel Jantjies’ size legally? How often will Etzebeth be high on Jantjies? Is it a fair contest?

The breakdown is also a contentious area, with the attacking team again favoured. 

The defending team hardly has a chance at a ruck and, if we’re honest, a referee could potentially blow a number of players up for infringements at the breakdown, but they often let things slide to allow the game to go on – this cannot be right.

And then there are the scrums. They’re a mess. Referees try hard and I’m sure they don’t cheat but a lot of the time it’s pure guesswork.

If you took four referees, put them in four different rooms and asked them to referee the same scrum you’d probably get four different interpretations and decisions made.

That is not right, and that’s why we have a problem.

For now, until World Rugby can figure out how to fix the issue at scrum time, I’d suggest making the scrum a starting point to the game continuing, rather than it being a contest. I know this would create several issues, and is not the long-term solution, but right now scrums are a mess anyway. It’s not helping the game.

We need clarity on the laws. And we need it quickly.